362 Original Letters of Dr. Franklin. 
the wind is from N. E. to S$. W. yet the course of the storm 
is from the 8. W. to N. E. i. e. the air is in violent motion 
in Virginia before it moves in Connecticut, and at Connect- 
icut before it moves at Cape Sable, &c. My reasons for this 
opinion, (if the like has not occurred to you,) I will give in 
my next. J thank you for the curious facts you have com- 
municated to me relating tosprings. I think with you, that 
most springs arise from rains, dews, or ponds, &c. on higher 
grounds: Yet possibly some that break out near the tops of 
high hollow mountains, may proceed from the abyss, or from 
water in the caverns of the earth, rarified by its internal 
heat, and raised in vapour, till the cold region near the top 
of such mountains condense the vapour into water again, 
which comes forth in springs and runs down on the outside 
of the mountain, as it ascended from the inside. There is 
said to be a large spring near the top of Teneriffe ; and that 
mountain was formerly a Volcano, consequently hollow 
within. Such springs, if such there be, may properly be 
called springs of distilled water. Now I mention mountains, 
it occurs to tell you, that the great Apalachian mountains, 
which run from York River back of these Colonies to the 
Bay of Mexico, show in many places near the highest parts 
of them, strata of sea shells, in some places the marks of 
them are in the solid rocks. ’Tis certainly a Wreck of a 
world we live on! We have specimens of these sea shell 
rocks broken off near the tops of those mountains, brought 
and deposited in our library as curiosities. If you have 
not seen the like, I'll send you a piece. Farther about 
mountains (for ideas will string themselves like ropes of on- 
ions) when I was once riding in your country, Mr. Walker 
showed me ata distance the bluff, side or end of a mountain, 
which appeared striped from top to bottom, and told me the 
stone or rock of that mountain was divided by nature into 
pillars ;* of this I should be glad to have a particular ac- 
count from you. I think [ was somewhere near New Ha- 
ven when [ saw it. You made some mistake when you in- 
tended to favour me with some of the new valuable grass- 
seed, (I think you called it hurd-seed) for what you gave 
me is grown up, and proves mere timothy; so I suppose 
you took it out of a wrong paper or parcel. 
_ * Without doubt the now well known mural precipices of columnar green- 
stone trap, constituting the East and West Rocks, &c.—Ed. 
