A Small Esker. — Comstock. 13 
face of the surrounding ground above which it rises to a hight 
of some ten or twelve feet. 
The ground immediately surrounding the esker is swampy, 
especially so at the eastern end. Towards the western extrem- 
ity the ground becomes quite firm and dry. To the north of the 
esker between A and B (Fig. 1) a few bowlders project above 
the surface indicating but a slight depth at that point. 
Fig. 1, shows a plan of the esker. 
Fig. 2, a view along the crest. 
Fig. 3, a section near the western end. 
As shown in the plan the general direction of the esker is 
about south 65° west (mag.) being a few degrees more to the 
west than the glacial striae in that part of the state. The esker 
begins (A, Fig. 1), quite abruptly in the swamp, the slope at 
the end beitig about the same as at the sides. About four hun- 
dred feet west of the beginning, (B, Fig. 1 ) there is an abrupt 
break in the formation some twenty feet in extent which now 
serves for the passage of a farm road. Whether this break is 
artificial or natural cannot be determined. 
At C, an excavation for gravel has removed the esker for 
some distance, as indicated by the dotted lines on the plan. This 
disturbance of the original form is continued west of the high- 
way where the esker enters cultivated land and has been much 
reduced in hight. A ear D, the ordinary form of the esker seems 
to give place to several low mounds two. hundred or so feet in 
length and four or five feet in present hight running nearly 
north and south. Beyond D the usual form is resumed in 
uncultivated ground and continues to E, where cultivated land 
is again entered and the esker is difficult to trace, seeming to 
be lost in a number of low swells or mounds. 
At C, where the esker has been cut away for gravel and 
sand the section shows immediately below the vegetable mould 
a layer of stratified sand four feet in thickness interrupted in 
several places by layers of fine gravel one or two inches thick. 
Beneath this is a thin whitish layer of sand apparently filled 
with lime deposit, and below that some six feet of stratified 
gravel. 
Another section some 1500 feet southwest of C is shown in 
Fig. 3. The material in this portion of the esker seems more 
sandy than towards the other end and contains a number of 
cobbles. 
