Notice of a Rocking Stone. 3 
Ante I.—wNatice of a Rocking Stone. 
ProvipENcE, July 28, 1825. 
TO THE EDITOR. 
DEAR Siz, 
{ rake the liberty to transmit you drawings, and a short 
description of two Rocking Stones that exist in this vicinity. 
No notice of these has ever been published, except a very 
hasty one, drawn up by myself, for one of our newspapers. 
If you conceive that it would subserve any useful purpose 
to publish this account in the next number of your Journal, 
it is at your service. ‘The subject has lost much of its in- 
terest, since it has been ascertained, that these moveable 
rocks are of not very rare occurrence in this section of our 
country ; but one of these I suspect equals, if it does not sur- 
pass in s¢ze, any that has yet been described. 
Upon & Brown’s farm, in North Providence, 34 miles from 
this town, there is a broad bed of limestone, which rises 3. 
or 4 feet above the surface of the earth. Upon this bed lie 
the two bowlders, of which Fig. 1. is a south-west view. The 
rock A is so poised upon the imbedded rock and the top of 
its fellow, that it can be easily moved back and forth 4 or 5 
inches with one hand, though it probably weighs 8 or 10 
tons. It is even moved by the winds when they blow brisk- 
ly from the south east. ' a 
Fig. 2 presents a north-east view of a rocking stone, which 
is found on a farm, belonging to Mr. Paine of Smithfield. It 
is 12 miles north of this town. 
It is a bowlder of gra:.ite, and reposes upon a mass of the 
same kind of rock. Thereis consi erable resemblance in 
its form to the rocking stone describe in No. I. Vol. EX. of 
your Journal. It is an irregular pyramid, 15 feet in height, 
and 12 feet in diameter at the base. It is computed to weigh 
80 or 90 tons. Notwithstanding its vast weight, it can be 
moved with the hand. and with a lever 8 or 10 feet long, it 
can be made to oscillate 4 0 5 inches. When moving, the 
rock appears about to tumble down the declivity upon which 
it is situate, and very few ha e the resolution to stand near its 
north-east side while it is moving. It is probable, however, 
that it will ever remain in its present situation; as many years 
since, a number of men, provided with levers, ropes, and 
Vou. X.--No., ¥. 2 
a 
