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[ ASSEM BLT 
masses, I found a scanty herbage just sufficient to form a foothold, or 
shrubs of the white birch and balsam, on which to hang for the moment, 
while clambering over the steep and slippery sides, while others were 
perfectly naked, having been but recently removed from their original 
beds. The rains, frosts, &c., are constantly working upon the whole 
of this immense mass of ruins, gradually pushing them to the valley be- 
low, where only they can find a resting place. 
Gneiss. 
The gneiss of this county occupies but a limited extent. It appears 
at West Port along the shore towards the high rocks. From Cedar 
Point it extends west towards West Moriah, five or six miles, where it 
meets the hypersthene rock, or rather passes into it. This is the west- 
ern limit. It has a perfect resemblance to the gneiss of New-England, 
and is more distinctly stratified than that of St. Lawrence county. 
It contains numerous beds of iron, both magnetic and hematitic. It 
is interlaminated apparently with saccharoiclal limestone, sometimes in- 
termixed with serpentine and other interesting minerals. 
The dip of the strata at Bulwagga Bay and at Crown Point landing, is 
east, varying from 60° to 70°, while at Crag Harbor and the old Crown 
Point ore bed, it is from 30° to 40° west; a very remarkable change in 
the dip of the strata in the same rock and the same neighborhood.* 
Besides the iron and limestone, I discovered a valuable bed of the 
verd-antique marble near Cedar Point. At the surface it has the appear- 
ance of being a sound rock, and free from cracks and fissures so common 
in rocks of this kind. Use only can determine its value as regards its 
durability. Its beauty is equal to any of the marbles of this descrip- 
tion. Polished specimens in the collection. 
Transition rocks of Essex. Limestone, Shales j ^c. 
Of this class there are two, both of which occur along the whole ex- 
tent of the lake, but rarely if ever extend more than four or five miles 
west. The transition limestone, together with the slates or shales, form 
the uppermost of these rocks, and the sandstone which rests on the pri- 
mary rocks is the other or inferior member of this class. The first, or 
the transition limestone, differs in no respect from that in other parts of 
the State, and is characterized by the same organic remains, as fucoides, 
the calymene, cyathophyllum, leptsena, orthocera, encrinites, &c. It 
** The more so in a primary rock, as they preserve uniformity of dip for great distances. 
