NEW   ENGLAND.  563 
it  is  believed  that  the  strike  and  dip  of  lamination  and  stratifies 
generally  correspond.  The  granite  gneiss  approaches  so  near  to 
granite  that  in  hand  specimens  the  two  rocks  can  not  be  distinguished 
from  each  other.  The  granite  of  the  two  Ascutneys  seems  to  have 
cut  across  the  strata  of  the  calciferous  mica  schist  and  a  considerable 
distance  into  the  gneiss,  although  the  granite  is  regarded  as  of  meta- 
morphic  origin.  Clay  slate  often  passes  by  insensible  gradations 
into  mica  schist,  which  is  regarded  as  a  modified  fragmental  rock. 
Associated  with  the  talcose  schists  and  constituting  an  integral  part 
of  the  formation  are  clay  slate,  gneiss,  quartz  rock,  sandstones,  and 
conglomerates.  Igneous  rocks,  both  trap  and  granite,  are  also  asso- 
ciated with  this  formation. 
Hitchcock  (Edward),2"'  in  1861,  considers  in  detail  the  relations 
of  the  granitic  to  the  other  rocks  and  also  the  origin  of  the  granite. 
This  rock  is  found  interstratified  with  slate,  limestones,  and  mica 
schists  in  many  localities.  At  the  "  Narrows,"  in  the  northern  part  of 
Coventry,  the  number  of  alternations  is  very  large,  the  thickness  of 
the  different  layers  of  granite  varying  from  1  to  7  feet. 
The  conglomeratic  syenites  of  Whately,  Mass.,  and  Ascutney, 
Granby,  and  Barnet,  Vt.,  which  contain  fragments,  are  described  in 
detail.  These  may  be  described  as  conglomerates  whose  cement  is 
syenite,  or  as  a  syenite  through  which  are  scattered  pebbles  mechanic- 
ally rounded.  Generally  the  pebbles  have  been  more  or  less  meta- 
morphosed, and  sometimes  almost  converted  into  syenite,  subsequent 
to  their  introduction.  In  their  present  state  white  quartz,  mica 
schist,  hornblende  schist,  and  hornblende  have  been  noticed.  At 
Ascutney  all  traces  of  stratification  in  the  conglomerate  are  lost  and  it 
passes  first  into  an  imperfect  porphyry  and  then  into  a  granite  with- 
out hornblende  in  the  same  continuous  mass.  Where  the  conglomerate 
is  least  altered  it  is  made  up  almost  entirely  of  quartz  pebbles  and  a 
larger  amount  of  laminated  grits  and  shales,  the  fragments  rounded 
somewhat,  and  the  cement  in  small  quantity.  The  fragments  are 
sometimes  metamorphosed  to  mica  schist.  The  conviction  can  not 
be  resisted  that  the  granitic  rocks  of  this  mountain  are  nothing  more 
than  conglomerate  melted  down  and  crystallized.  At  Granby  the 
bowlders  are  of  all  sizes,  from  a  few  hundred  pounds  to  50  to  60  tons. 
They  cover  many  acres,  and  are  associated  with  those  of  contorted 
mica  slate,  quartzose  granite,  and  many  other  varieties  common  in  the 
region. 
At  several  localities  in  Vermont — Craftsbury,  Northfield,  New- 
Fane,  Proctorsville — and  at  Stanstead,  just  beyond  the  Canada  line, 
is  a  remarkable  variety  of  white,  fine-grained,  highly  feldspathic 
granite  which  contains  scattered  through  its  face  numerous  spherical 
or  elongated  and  somewhat  flattened  nodule-  of  black  mica  from  halt' 
an  inch  to  2  inches  in  diameter.     They  an-  usually  more  or  Less  Hat 
