THE GEOLOGY OF THE MOUTH OF NARRAGANSETT BAY. 
By T. NELSON DALE.* 
In two papers recently published, one in the Proceedings'of the 
Boston Society of Natural History, the other in the American 
Journal of Science, I have given the scientific details of the sub¬ 
ject, which I now propose to present in a more general and pop¬ 
ular form. 
There is probably no one present who has not been often im¬ 
pressed with the beauty of the shores and islands of our bay. 
To some of us, these scenes are associated with all the experi¬ 
ences of our childhood, to others, they have but formed the the¬ 
atre of our maturer life or merely charmed us during seasons of 
rest and recreation. To all who in these different degrees and 
ways have felt the influence of our natural surroundings, it ought 
to be of interest to know how these lands and waters came to be, 
what is their structure, what changes did these places see before 
the red man invaded their solitude. As every intelligent person 
likes to know something of the history of the community in 
which he resides, of its political, social, intellectual and religious 
past, so should he also desire to extend his knowledge to the 
natural history of the section he inhabits. Indeed we would find 
a by no means contemptible culture in acquainting ourselves as 
thoroughly as possible with what has transpired within a few 
miles of our own doors, both in the sphere of man and in the 
sphere of nature. 
With the offer of such inducements I invite you to a study of 
the general geological structure and history of the mouth of Nar- 
ragansett bay, that is of the lands and waters for about seven 
miles on the east and as many on the west of Newport, together 
♦Lecture delivered before the Society on June 5th, 1SS4. 
The Hanging Rock or Berkeley’s Seat, represented in the accompanying Artotype, forms 
the southern extremity of Ridge VI. (described in detail, in the paper “ On the Geology of 
the tract known as ‘ Paradise’ near Newport,” in the Proceedings of the Society for 1883-4) 
and consists of quartzyte conglomerate dipping W. NW. The abrupt face of this Rock was 
caused by a fissure which cleft the pebble and cement of the conglomerate alike, from which 
it is inferred that the Rock had been previously compressed into a mass of almost equal density 
and cohesion through some powerful force. The view is taken from the South. 
