172 The American Geologist. March, 1894 
five to ten miles from the lake. The townships between the 
high levels and the hike form one great clay plain, extending 
as far as the Winooski sand delta near Burlington, broken 
only here and there by small hills rising abruptly from the 
plain, somewhat resembling, in appearance, the region of 
buried mountains in Nevada, hut on a smaller seale. A defi- 
nite ancient water level seems to be traceable in Orwell at 410 
feet. East of Middlebury village a long sand plain has a 
bight of 460 feet, with such well defined level that one readily 
applies the term "'islands" to the occasional hills which rise 
above it. Yet it is doubtful if the clay deposits reach the 
town of Middlebury at 890 feet. The shore townships, Addi- 
son. Panton, Ferrisburgb, Charlotte, and Shelburne, exhibit a 
decided contrast to the higher townships, as Middlebury and 
Bristol, where the glacial surface deposits are scarcely con- 
cealed by the later lacustrine and marine deposits. Passing 
inland from the shore, the clays rise in broad terraces, often 
nearly a mile across and each terrace usually from 80 to 50 
feet above the one below, yet we were unable to connect the 
terraces of succeeding townships into continuous levels. 
A well defined esker runs through East Panton and Addi- 
son, from Vergennes to Snake mountain, rising about 1 50 feet 
above the plain and sloping steadily to the south. It rises 
above the clays, but is partly buried in them. On the wesf 
side of this esker in East Panton is Elgin spring, the most 
southerly point from which marine shells had been reported.* 
We visited the spring, but did not succeed in finding any 
shells, nor could we get any information of them from the 
residents of the vicinity, so we could not verify the report. 
The clays clearly extend to 250 feet, and probably the marine 
levels reached 350 feet. Marine shells appear at Vergennes 
at nearly 250 feet, while at less than 150 feet shells may be 
found in the brown clays at almost any point from central Ad- 
dison north. Faint lines seem to have been cut in the till of 
Snake mountain to a bight of 586 feet. Such a level would 
almost completely cover all the shore townships. But the 
more decided levels up t<> 850 feet would leave Snake moun- 
tain, as well as several hills in Waltham. Monkton, and Fer- 
risburgh, above the water as islands. 
; (ieology of Vermont, vol. i, p. 159. 
