Gold Region of North Carolina. 5 



from the decomposition of rocks, which, if they did not oc- 

 cupy the identical spot, at least lay in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood. Circumstances which I have deeply regretted, 

 have prevented Mr. Andrews from extending his researches 

 to parts remote from the University ; for the truth and pro- 

 priety of the remarks upon which I am alone responsible, but 

 in the correctness of the proposition now before us, we both, 

 as I believe, repose equal and entire confidence. 



b. Whilst coming to these conclusions with regard to the 

 upper country of N. Carolina, there has been no disposition 

 to deny that something very different obtains in other parts 

 of the world. The immense collections of sand, loam and 

 gravel, that are piled up over the primitive rocks, in many 

 parts of the New England States, were distinctly recollect- 

 ed.* It was not therefore through ignorance of the appear- 

 ances created by a stratum of foreign matter, or through a. 

 general scepticism upon the subject, blinding our eyes and 

 unfitting us for the task of observation, that we failed to find 

 any. 



c. The tracing of the boundaries of the alluvial district af- 

 forded an opportunity of learning to detect, without difficulty, 

 the presence of foreign loam, sand and gravel in the natural 

 soil. I stated in a former communication the existence of 

 a zone of a peculiar character, stretching across the state, 

 and exhibiting these substances upon the high grounds, 

 whilst in the neighborhood of the streams, the soil is evidently 



* It has appeared to the writer of this article, that the individual who, with- 

 out paying any attention to the subjacent rocks, farther than might be neces- 

 sary to the prosecution of his main design, should make these collections, 

 whatever be the title (and I am doubtful whether it be Geest, Diluvion, Ante, 

 Ultimate or Post-Diluvion, or any other than that by which they are here call- 

 ed — collections of sand, loam and gravel, having their origin perhaps in a cause 

 that has not operated elsewhere upon the surface of the globe) that is appropri- 

 ate to them, a particular object of investigation — ascertain their northern, 

 southern and western boundary — the route along which the accumulations are 

 most abundant, and the diversity of character presented at points remote from 

 each other — would render an essential service to the geology of these United 

 States — perhaps find a clue that would lead us back to their origin. 



In this introduction of the terms recently proposed by Professor Eaton, I 

 trust I shall not be regarded as wanting in respect to that gentlemen, of the 

 value of whose contributions to the science 1 am well aware, and by the peru- 

 sal of whose writings I am happy to have profited. I wish however that ante- 

 rior to the publication of the promised volume he could find leisure to visit the 

 southern States. Werner's principal error lay in generalizing from too nar- 

 row an induction of particulars, and making the litUe mountains of Saxony a 

 type of the world. 



