Mr, Barnes'' Section of the Canaan Mountain, ^c. 13 



black oak, Quejxus tinctoria; red oak, Quercus rubra, et 

 coccinea. The springs, which flow from the slate rocks, are 

 remarkably pure water, and much esteemed for their soft- 

 ness and salubrity,- the more so by contrast with the lime- 

 stone water below, which is very hard. 



This slate, in the township of Neiv-Lebanon, assumes 

 that variety called alum slate.{x) It is found on the land of 

 Nathan Patchen, north of the springs. It occurs in a high 

 and almost perpendicular bluff from the interstices of which 

 constantly exudes the aluminous matter incrusting the spe- 

 cimens before you. It is highly acrid to the taste, and may 

 probably become useful in the arts. 



The fifth step is Graywack slate(s) which caps all the 

 high hills in the vicinity, and is the uppermost stratum, 

 known in place on the mountains which lie immediately 

 west of the primitive region of New-England. 



Above the Graywack slate, as formerly hinted, the Gray- 

 wack rubblestone appears to have had its position. It is evi- 

 dently the result of mechanical deposition, and answers 

 perfectly to the description of this rock given in the New 

 Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, under the bead of Mineralogy. 

 The remains show that the stratum must have been of very 

 great extent, and probably of vast thickness. Masses of 

 this rock are found of from ten to fifty feet in diameter, and 

 of a weight resisting any ordinary human force. By taking 

 advantage, however, of their natural composition, they are 

 easily removed, whenever they are opposed to the course 

 of a turnpike, or impede the erection of a house. The 

 method is simply to build a large fire, of dry logs upon 

 them. The argillaceous cement is contracted by the heat, 

 and the mighty mass is split into a thousand fragments. 

 These fragments are commonly of a trappose form and thus 

 become exceedingly useful for fences and buildings. From 

 the Graywack slate upivard, the strata are repeated in the 

 same order as before enumerated, viz. limestone,[e) quartz, [c) 

 argillaceous slate,{n) and Grayivack slaie.[s) The last 

 forms the highest part of the " high knob." The appear- 

 ance is the same as it would have been, if a large mass, of 

 the same range, had been raised from its bed, and piled, 

 like Ossa on Pelion, upon the top of the mountain. 



