10 Mr. Barnes* Section of the Canaan Mountain, fyc. 



ing in." The substance thrown out is totally unfit for veg- 

 etation, and has been known to lie exposed for forty years 

 without acquiring a turf. The roots of no tree penetrate 

 the hard-pan. The white-pine, Finns strobus, marks most 

 distinctly the first elevation from the peat bottom. In this 

 situation it shoots forward its roots to a great extent hori- 

 zonitally, and when this majestic tree is prostrated by the 

 wind, the subjacent clay is discovered impressed, but not 

 penetrated, by the roots. 



At the SECOND STEP of our ascent we meet the first rock 

 which occurs in place. It is limestone, (e) and probably one 

 of the oldest members of the transition class. It ranges north 

 and south, and dips to the east, with an inclination in various 

 parts of from twenty to forty degrees. It makes excellent 

 lime ; of which, in former years, large quantities were burnt 

 for building. It is of a beautiful light blue, fine grained, 

 nearly compact, and receives a good polish. It was former- 

 ly wrought for the New- York market. It was sold at one 

 dollar the square foot, and can still be seen in houses built 

 twenty-five or thirty years ago. Six quarries were opened, 

 from one of which slabs were taken out fourteen feet in 

 length. The rock presents perpendicular fissures parallel 

 to each other, which are crossed at right angles by natural 

 joints. It also shows on the sides of the fissures, very reg- 

 ular and convenient divisions into tables, which require only 

 the driving of wedges to be separated. It is thus easily 

 quarried, after removing the incumbent substances, which 

 are chiefly earth, and an inferiour kind of limestone, (f) 

 which contains an admixture of very fine silicious particles. 

 It is this, or a very similar rock from a locality five or six 

 miles east of this, which was brought last summer to this 

 city, under the strange delusion of its being "P/asfe?-" (gyp- 

 sum.) 



On the margin of a brook in this vicinity, is found a very 

 fine sand,{g) which may perhaps have been formed by the 

 disintegration of the silicious lime-stone. The sand is so 

 very fine as to appear to the naked eye like clay. Under 

 the microscope however, it shows its real character. It is 

 used, instead of Tripoli, for cleaning and polishing metals. 

 It has been tried in this city, and answers the purpose well. 

 Specimens of this last mentioned rock, from the out-burst ol 

 i!ie stratum, on the east of the mountain, are before you. 



