GEOLOGY OF STODDARD AND MARLOW. 357 
the bedding is exceedingly well defined, so that the effect is very beautiful, especially 
as dark and light colors alternate more or less with one another. 
The whole region gives the most ample evidence that it was once subjected to long 
continued glacial action. The rocks are planed down and grooved, and boulders in 
many places almost cover the ground over areas miles in extent. Probably there are 
but few places, if indeed there are any in our country, where the boulders are more 
numerous than in this part of New Hampshire. Between Hancock and Marlow, inclu- 
sive, the boulders are, in a great majority of cases, porphyritic granite. In the vicinity 
of South Stoddard, some of the boulders are of enormous size. One boulder, not far 
from the road, and on the right hand in going from the ‘‘ Box tavern” to Stoddard 
village, is about fifty paces in circumference, and probably contains 40,000 cubic feet 
of rock. Many others in the vicinity approximate this in size. Another of very great 
size is found about half a mile from the village of Marlow, in a southerly direction, and 
just east of the Ashuelot river. 
Rocking-stones are not uncommon in this region. Two beautiful examples of this 
kind are found in Marlow, not far from a place in the Ashuelot river well known as the 
‘‘Bend.” Several of these stones are found on a hill westerly from the Abbot pond, 
which is on the right hand of the main road leading from Stoddard to Marlow. But I 
hasten to say that not one of these last will now ‘‘rock,” for they have been tipped 
and wedged up by stones, put in by the farmers, as I learned, under the impression 
that the flocks and herds might be injured by them. I believe that an ox, or some 
other creature of the farm, did get caught by the tipping of one of these boulders, and 
this fact led to the wedging of them so that they could not rock. We examined them, 
and satisfied ourselves that they would rock again as soon as these props or wedges 
were removed. 
The drift striz in Marlow are nearly due north and south, varying only slightly from 
a due northerly and southerly course, as the needle points. The effect produced by 
the planing down of the highly inclined slate near Stone pond is very interesting and 
beautiful. Not a projecting point is left, and the bare, clean, and smoothly planed 
edges of the dark- and light-colored layers of the gneissoid rocks present a very strik- 
ing and beautiful appearance to the eye of the geologist. 
Very near the outlet of Stone pond are very beautiful examples of granite dykes in 
the gneissoid rocks, some crossing others, and thus showing that they were formed at 
different times. Northerly from Stone pond, at a distance of a mile or less, is Trout 
pond, interesting from the fact of its being nearly surrounded by high hills of drift. 
One large moraine is, as it were, cut off by the pond; the moraine continues for a 
considerable distance northerly and southerly, interrupted only by this pond. How 
this pond was formed in the line of this moraine, is an interesting question. Was the 
pond there before the moraine? If so, why was it not filled by the drift material? Is 
it not probable that the age of the pond dates from the glacial period, and that there 
was a vast accumulation of ice just where this pond is to-day? 
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