W. S. Bay ley — Fulgurite from Waterville, Me. 327 



graphic movement are periods of igneous activity, which fact 

 of itself, suggests this as the time of intrusion. In view of 

 this fact, as well as the similarity of the rocks, it .is a natural 

 conclusion that the dikes of Manheim, Syracuse and Ithaca are 

 of the same age, dating from the close of the Carboniferous. 



In this connection it is interesting to note that Mr. Diller* 

 suggests the close of the Carboniferous as perhaps being the 

 time of extrusion of the Elliot Co., Ky., peridotite, which cuts 

 Carboniferous strata, though the very slight disturbance in that 

 locality leads him to think a later date more probable. 

 Geological Laboratory, Hamilton College, Clinton. N. Y. 



Art. XLI. — A Fulgurite from Waterville, Maine; by 

 W. S. Bayley. 



Through the kindness of Mr. G. K. Boutelle of Waterville, 

 Me., the museum of Colby University has come into the pos- 

 session of a fragment of fulgurite, which, when unearthed 

 from the midst of a heterogeneous collection of unlabeled rock 

 and mineral specimens, was found to be wrapped in a scrap of 

 paper containing the following inscription : 



" This sand tube was taken out of the garden of Gilbert, 



some feet below the surface, after a thunder storm, during 

 which a stroke of lightning was seen to fall on to his garden, 

 where, after having torn up beans and other vegetables in an 

 odd manner, it was tracked by a long tube descending through 

 the soil and sand. I had one specimen which my children 

 broke, into which I could put two fingers — this was from a 

 part lower down. The garden is on the left hand side going 

 to Crummett's Mills bridge, a little more than half way from 

 the Universalist church to the bridge." 



No date nor signature accompanies the inscription, nor can 

 any one be found in Waterville who knows more of the inci- 

 dents connected with the history of the tube than the paper 

 itself reveals. The church mentioned is in the southern portion 

 of the city, and the bridge spans the Messalonskee River, which 

 crosses the main road running west from Waterville about half 

 a mile west of the church. 



The sand covering the surface in the region indicated by the 

 above description is probably glacial. It consists of intermin- 

 gled angular and rounded grains of quartz, feldspar and horn- 

 blende, and fragments of some green earthy material and slate. 



The portion of the tube that has been preserved measures 

 about three inches in length and has a rudely elliptical cross 

 section with axes of an inch, and three quarters of an inch, 



§ Bulletin 38, U. S. G. S., p. 29. 



Am. Jour. Sci.— Third Series, Vol. XLITI, No. 256.— April, 1892. 

 21 



