tXi TACONIC SLATE NEAR WATERVILLE. 



intervening country i- moderately ridged with low lulls, and the rock only appears occa- 

 sionally, bul enough of il may be Been to convince the most sceptical thai il is but one 

 continuous rock. One or two miles wesl of West-Waten ille, the laconic slate is succeeded 

 l>\ ilu' primax] Bchists with granitic reins, a- in the country between Waterville and I'ort- 

 laml. In ili>' direction of their strike, the] pass onwards to the Piscatacrua river, where the 

 fine roofing dates abound, which are described by Dr. Jackson in his Report on the Geology 

 of Maine. 



In the position of the roofing slate in Maine, we have another fad analogous to what 

 actually exists in New-York, namely, the roofing slates are confined to beds subordinate 

 to the laconic slate ; and u is to be remembered, too, that as yet no slate tit for roofing has 

 been found in the Hudson river rocks. 



Having examined the slate in a westerly direction as far as seemed necessary, in which 

 examination I was assisted by Prof. Loomis of Waterville College, I proceeded across the 

 strata man easterl] direction tow fast. On this route the slate continues about 



■even miles. No variation of character in (his rock appears in this distance: it consists, as 

 at Waterville, of alternating hard and soft layers or beds, together with the siliceous, cal- 

 oareous and coarse brecciated beds. Towards China, seven miles from Waterville, the rocks 

 assume more the character of the primary Bchists, but the precise point where the change 

 occur- was not observed. 



From the exposition of this rock and its beds, it appears to be at least fifteen miles wide, 



leaving out of view the equivocal portion in the vicinity of China. On placing specimens 



of the slate and its beds side by side with those of New-York, it is impossible to discover 



any essential difference between them. It is true, however, that as yet species of the 



te JVereites have not be< □ discovered in New-York. 



It was in the vicinity of Waterville that Prof. Loomis discovered the fossils referred to 

 on page 69. 



The- character of the country over which the taconic slate prevails, resembles that of 

 Rensselaer and Washington counties in New-York; and the valley of the Kennebeck at 

 and above Waterville, resembles that of the Hoosic. Some of the best farming land in 

 the State lie- in and adjacent to this valley, which is productive in grass, and will probably 

 soon Buppl] the southern cities with bay. 



Omitting for the present the farther consideration of the rocks of the Kennebeck, I 

 r\e, that between China and Montville. him a slate and gneiss, together with granitic 

 veins, are the only rocks that make their appearance ; and again ten miles west of Belfast, 

 a still coars.r mica slate occurs, charged with garnet, schorl, hornblende, and large masses 

 of felspar: the rock dips southeast. Five miles wist of Belfast, a much finer lalcose slate 

 l- the surface rock, a slate approaching in its characters the magnesian slate of the Taconic 

 range in New- York. 



