12 Geology, ^c. of the Connecticut. 



saw a rock farther from stratification. Sometimes the fels- 

 par is wholly wanting, and the rock appears to be mere 

 unstratijied mica slate, if such a term does not contain a con- 

 tradiction. It is of r.o great extent, being evidently laid 

 bare by the waters of the Connecticut, which here urge their 

 way in foaming fury over its ragged cliffs. The same rock 

 occurs two miles east of the falls ; but, as far as I examin- 

 ed it, it seemed to occupy no great space. 



Stratijicalion of Granite. 



Probably the granite of Connecticut will leave the ques- 

 tion* on this subject undecided. For some of it is evident- 

 ly stratified and some of it is not. That which exists in 

 not very extensive beds exhibits, so far as I have examined 

 the subject, the most decided marks of stratification. It is 

 not unfrequent to see the bed divided into layers parallel to 

 its roof and floor, and from one foot to two feet thick. This 

 is readily distinguished from gneiss by the much greater 

 thickness of the layers and the want of a stratified arrange- 

 ment of the ingredients. In other instances, more rare, 

 however, we observe what Saussune would call vertical 

 plates (feuillets) — that is, thick tables of granite perpendi- 

 cular to the horizon, crossing the bed sometimes at right an- 

 gles and sometimes obliquely. These plates are also found 

 making a dip to the horizon — In all these cases, however, 

 the plates being parallel, or nearly so, the rock would be 

 properly denominated stratified. Examples of these vari- 

 ous kinds of arrangement may be seen in Conway, Wil- 

 liamsburg, Goshen, and Chesterfield. Yet the greater part 

 of our granite is divi(Jed by numerous fissures into these ir- 

 regular blocks that bid defiance to precise description. 



Granitic V^eins. 



By veins I understand those zones of any particular 

 rocks, or mineral, which traverse another rock, either rec- 

 tangularly or obliquely to the direction of its strata. In 

 crossing the strata they differ from beds. 



* See Greenough's First Principles of Geology. — Essay 1. 



