38 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
that there has been no change in grade, the distance and the fall per 
mile must be calculated so as to correlate the order of deposit of the 
flood plains on the two sides. 
The profile map (plate 2) gives two actual cross sections, one from 
east to west along the line A-B, and the other from northeast to south¬ 
west along the line C-D. The scale of profile does not admit the 
showing of the more delicate slopes and undulations of the plains. 
The cross sections emphasize any possible relations existing between 
the plains on either side of the river. These, in connection with the 
ideal profile, show a difference in the number and levels of plains on 
the two sides. The higher scarps are the sum of two or three scarps 
of lower plains which were consumed by the river as it swung more 
widely than on previous swings across its valley. Perhaps the greatest 
value of the profiles lies in the fact that they indicate that while the 
river is swinging laterally it is also always steadily approaching sea 
level. Could we stand for untold ages and observe the river, we 
would see meander after meander progressively passing gradually by, 
and we would also see the entire river channel move or swing back 
and forth within its narrowing meander belt. 
History of the West River Valley. 
This West River branch of the Connecticut rises among the hard 
crystalline Green Mountain hills of southern Vermont, and flows 
southward and eastward across the metamorphic rocks to the Con¬ 
necticut. A valley narrowing up-stream had been carved preglacially 
in these rocks. During and at the close of the glacial period, the 
valley became aggraded with more or less wash drift to the elevation 
of the highest plains which now rest against the rock boundaries of the 
valley. The river has since then by wandering and degradation 
carved the present valley topography, wandering at first freely in the 
unconsolidated material until at lower levels the rock reefs were en¬ 
countered and served as a defence for the remnants of higher flood 
plains. The highest plain within the valley, viz., the Golf Links area, 
is not of simple origin. Its surface is rolling, consisting of morainic 
and kame-like material. The upper layers are of coarse gravel, then 
sand, and below, clay,— a clay outcropping at an elevation of 375 feet. 
These deposits may have been continuous across the valley at the 
