De Geer. I 
464 
[May 1 8, 
tract, I could not find on the surface of the moraine any traces 
of marine erosion above the well developed terrace at the present 
sea-level. 
New Haven. 
At New Haven I had an opportunity, during an excursion with 
Prof. J. D. Dana, to see the lowest of the late gdacial river-ter- 
races or Hood-plains so admirably described by him, with their 
remarkably well preserved kettle holes but without any traces of 
former shore-lines. At the same time I visited the present sea- 
shore at West Haven in company with Mr. H. Lundbolim. The 
even flood-plain descends with a continuous slope to the very 
edge of the actual shore-terrace or to a level about 17 feet 
above highwater mark. On the surface of this terrace there lies 
exposed in the cliff an earthy bed one or two feet in thickness, 
containing shells of oysters and Venus mercenaria which no 
doubt formed an Indian kitchenmidding and show that since its 
formation the terrace has been cut back. The foot of the cliff 
lies about three feet above what I assumed to be the ordinary 
highwater mark and evidently represents the actual storm-level. 
These facts seem to be in accordance with the assumption that 
this coast is slowly sinking, and 1 failed to find any proofs that 
since the Ice age the land was ever more deeply submerged than 
it is now. As the original land surface here is cut away by the 
recent wave-action, this locality does not prove anything for* 
levels lower than 17 feet. Thus, though it cannot be denied that 
there might have been, as Professor Dana has suggested, 1 a subsi- 
dence about 10 or 15 feet below the present level, it appears 
that even this slight amount cannot be allowed until a series 
of measurements in different localities gives closely correspond- 
ing values for the extreme marine limits. 
Martha’s Vineyard. 
On Martha’s Vineyard, where I had the advantage of Prof. 
N. S. Shaler’s guidance, I could only confirm his observation 
that no raised beaches of any kind were to be seen. Where 
the terminal moraine touches the flats of Tertiary clays, the topo- 
1 On southern New England during the melting of the great glacier. Amer. journ. 
science, Ser. 3, Vol. X, Dec., 1875, p. 434. 
