Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-02-28
Trom the Maias Farmer.
Letter from Prof Hitchcock. State
GeOloslst.
Asnrssr. MAss.. Jan. 3lsi. lsG2


AsurEsr, Mass, Jan. 3lst, lsGa
pK.a D,croE II intended 10 have writ
ten you several weeks since respecting lev
matter. Of the Scientific Slr,ey, bu' have
not found tune until q day. ZOO know
that vsut 10 Montreal ~ peccmosr to
COMPARE note, With the Gsolosis,. there. |
carried a quantity Of fossils With the. and
the results OF thc,r sIaminatiot were quite
in.srv.,in. They give u. .one definite
kpowIedsr OF the ase Of the rocks of Maine
thar has ever before bccu ascSr'ainei
Fir., Ol al wiIl .pcak Of the red sand
stone Of Perry and vicinity. where 50 many
psr.ou. have suspected the existence Of eoal.
Some dozen specie. Of lossil plants have bccn
obtained IRON one locality N Perry, which
are all of DsyOnnn or old rvd sandstone
tyre, or VI the formation which lies below
the true coal formation. Hence We must
nOt expect coal there. This conclusion
arrived al when on the ground last summer.
and "a. pleased - fnd u - strongly con
srned by the recent lAbors OF Mr. Dawson
Principal Of MeG,ll College. lie has been
examining the plants from several old red
sandstone localities in the soantry. and hnis
In every one OF them some OF the Perry
plants. TIE only reason why We may both
dislike this conclusion j.. that the hopes OF
% many psr.ons are disappointed. Ba'm
disappointment was miuHiet sonewhs, Sy
finding - many euriOos organic rsma'ns IN
the rocks AmOOs them Sre two new 'Ps
eies oi ferns. and one new genus Of confer
os. plant like the pine OF spruce. save that
nvNA tropical plant. THIS shows that
when the. pIAnts were living. the climate
Of Maine must have. been Ike iha, Of the
West lndle-.
S,eonlly, interesting facts were develoPei
respecting the fo-silifrr0u. rock. 10 Pen
broke. Labec. and vicinity. lhai eolleSt-d
o. immen.e number Of them. AMI was salts
zen that they were what eso!Oci't' call
Upper SLurian. BI, now It Is p1ssible u
20 .ulI further. and sly definitely that they
belong 10 the tor layer Of The UPrer S,la'
r.n group. 70 ~hai scOl,ei'ts call the Low
az uelderhcrg group. Moreover, ibO-s line
stone rocs. which you sKAmiosd On H,rsc-
shoe pJud. near Dean Murrh'' Cave.
-hen We were exploring the Wild lands,
prove 20 b. Of the sane ace. You know
The, our assistant Packard found the sane
limestone on square lake. aud collected
twenty kinds % fossil. from IL. The "hon'
yconb h..l. or F,vo.i,s coral, which
~e found - abundant On ,he east branch OF
,hs Penobs,o,. i, one Of the ehsraeteri',ic
form. ol tht, limestone. Mr. PAckari'.
fO-si, from square lake we're exceedingly
bsAuufal. Tie Canadian Geolosi',s wer,
10 ecsiaeies over them. and wanted q
know At once ubero more Of them might b
found, that they nigh, ,.'i' the locality ADD
collect or themselves. There were several
pew ,Tecis, OF uilobi,cs among them.
We dIl a,t think that Nc might be The
n,sa. Of inc,,ins distinguished men TO vi'l'
northern Aroj.tOok. though we DID boI'
that ogr description of tbs country woull
induce farmets y settle there. The Peor',
there, hosr,er. will beeI.d % receive visits
~yu e iitg Cr short time, from %" -
wants. e-I,yalIy if future expeditions s'ou,'
cot ~ uu.r d. our. Iii. il no, hrs'tau
g. predict shat .,.eu,,ac mcu will visit Nam
a., coming ,ga.1u. solely On account of ogt
representation. oi the r1cS., not simply a
Sluasc lake. bat At Tyll- lake. Grand lake
M5J-ebelI l4ke. Perry, Pembroke, etc.
Thirdly. another belt Of i,ssiliierou. rocks
runuio. south westerly from Ma'arlis. Alou.
she Aryo.,5ok river. across lake reio.
M,o.elgaI lake. and PArIiu pond proves u
BE- eIcvcdiusly interesting. Everybody II
Maine know. h0w the FOSSIL shells irou
III. rock lulk. because they End boulder
Of thsu IA their 6cId., particularly in Pe
pJ'-coi Aui Ksune.ec counties. Ih0-
stones were al derived lrom this bait O
rocks. but were broken % By ieebsrs, 40
carried % south sasterlY direction 70
t-e.I distance, Ia one eass took the Tain
o. measure the distance cue stone had IrAy
.led. Ani found il 70 b. one hundred an
sfty mile, Well ihi. rock is determine
- bs the very loNc-i rari Of the DevOn'a
formation. or What biologists call n
orpsany sandstone. IL - lower down ,h
series than ths rsd sandstone Of Perry.
FJur,hly. Since writing nv report,
have shosn the marble which We d'scOVere
or the east branch. TO a sculptor. tMI
Akers Of Portland.) and he pronounced
10 De .Iatulry marble. and VI quali,
superior 20 that which .. imported lrOI
abroad. II. then, We have discovered elu
70 some % the fnc-t statuAry marble ia th
World. IN the Wild land. Of Maine, The ca.
Of our survey IA. been more than trvbI
repAid 70 ths State. Gr IL will no, only
the mean. ot aalrding 70 the world sh
,eauuluI marble. but will cause that Sa'l
r,gion 10 be sSIlled-and the fJse.:s vi
give Nay 10 The settlers.
Another fact has also eOne ~ my motto
recenty. A large mass Of native copper ha
been found near Carroll, in the Wild land
0tIhe eastern part Of the State. IL mus
come from a copper belt extending into th
State irOn near Woodstock, y. b hs
reco~msod~i IN ny repori that thi. regio
he examined. from geological ibd'c.tian'
bot sAs hardly prepared " bear Oi the dr
eo'sry o; S0PPsr IN iS bSfOrs The rsconner