The Portland daily press., 1873-08-25
TERMS $500 PER ANNUMIN ADVANCE

| ferruginous gravel with rolled bo1ldere
| usually two or three feet thick. but m{Neh
| greater on Bramhall Hill. As the Highest
part OF Portland is about 160 feet high.
we are confident there has Seen a sub
mergence great enough, since the Cham
plain Period, to cover entirely the city of
Portland. To this we have heretofore
given the name of Terrace Period.
L will not detain you with the details
which might be presented on this topic. [
will, rather give my theory of the position
of these several layers. and leave to tie
members of the Association, the paslime OF
sitting such of the localities as they may
desire. / have colored one OF the beau
iiful maps of the city made by the Coast
Survey, upon which you may see at a
glance the localities of interest. In its
preparation the members of the Society of
Natnral History have aided me. The cat
alogue OF fossils from this vicinity, pre-
pared by c. b. Fnller, and the specimens
upon which the determinations are based,
can be seen in the Natural History collec-
tiOns 10 the room above. This catalogue Is
excee ely creditable TO It's author, and
you a; highly favored by having in Port
land such eDthusias in 81 ence as Mr.
Fuller, who is doing much more for sell
ence than many persons wearing the title
OF Professor. In this place / should be
delighted TO testify to the unrirng devo-
tiou 10 science in the midst of unusual
dscouragements, of DR.. Wood and his as
sociates. But must forbear.
L Will not raise the question whether
Portland was more elevated than now in
the glacial period. The general course OF
the strie in this neighborhood is S. 15 ,
to 20o L. There is a notable exception
near Blue Point, S;arbOro, where they run
). 20 N. w. The latter may have been
made by floating ice along the sea shore
III time of submergenee. l have meas
ureda few OF the courses, which mention:
SAcI, slate quarry, S. 80 to so E.
Blue p. int. 5. 20 IN. w. crossed by point
lines 5. 100 Z.
West edge Cape Elizabeth, Saco road,
s. 15o <.
Evergi cen Landing, Peaks Island. S.
10 E.
East side of Peaks Is and, S. ZOE.
East side of Knightsville, running up
hill transversely 5. 81 E.
Cape Light, South exactly.
LOCALITIES OF FOSSILS.
Along east side OF MunJoy's Hill, for
400 yards between Eastern Promenade and
Grand Trunk Railway.
Portland Company's Works, st. law
renee street.
Adams street.
Cove on Washington street opposite
north end of Race Course.
FROM this point to Fox Street.
Between Washington and North streets.
In an old pit on Congress street above
MountfOrt street.
Almost anywhere north of Congress
street between Alder and Anderson streets.
Congress street north of Reservoir.
Old slide next Canal described by Mr..
| Morse.
For 200 yards at the foot of Emery
street.
1 will now give my reasons for saying
that all these localities of fossils lie above
the glacier drift.
MuDjoy's and Bramhall Hills are the
true glacier drift. The large striated
boulders and accumnlations of unmo1-
| fed material abundantly present all the
usual phenomena of this deposit. Iu
every case the strata containing the fos-
sils dip away from these
two hills, the clay being
lower down. This dip shows conclu-
the boulders, as at first sight one would
imagine. l do Tot mean the smaller
boulders OF the upper gravel, which cover
everything-only the glaciated stones.
DR.. Wood informs me that in an old ex-
cavation on Adams street, he saw the
fossiiferous clays everything the coarse
| drift for a considerable distance.
Again, along West Commercial street,
the clay has been entirely removed, and
where fossils once existed only the under
lying boulder clay is now found.
A section at the recent excavations at
the race course shows the relative posi-
tons of the underlying drift, the fossiilf.
| erous sand and the superficial gravel.
! Those who desire to see these different
members in contact should examine this
locality. 1t is in these sands that Mr..
Fnller found the clam or mussel shells ~
ing in their native habitat. The siphon
holes still remained-only sand had been
| silted into them from above. No fact
could more clearly establish our view of the
| great submergence of this part of the cifys
| The immense sand and clay plains to the
east and west of us, seem to have been de-
! posted. at the same time with the upper
ferruginous gravel, i.e., in the Terrace
Epoch. The ferrie condition OF the iron
about Portland. indicates that the water
vas not deep at that time. No fossils have
yet been found in this, nor in the terraces
in the vicinity.
Several slides have been described in the
clays about Portland, particularly ON the
Presu,npscot river.
Tn rst one described (though not the
oldes occurred on the north bank of the
Presumpscot river above L de's bridgt,in
1881. An account oft was written by my
| father.
The next occurred in June, 1S49, on the
southern bank of Stroudwater river, about
five miles from Portland. Estimated size,
| seven acres.
third was described as occurring in
November in 1868. This is above the slare
OF 1881, and much larger than any of the
others.
This and some older ones, not known to
history, have been fully described by Prot.
| Z. S. Morse in the proceedings of the BOs-
ton Society of Natural History in 1869.
Tine following descriptions OF them aud
the very interesting changes induced by
them in the bed OF Presumpscot river, al Q
copied from his paper:
There are traces of two slides of great magni-
tude, one of winch has quite changed the former
| course of Presumpscot river. One of tn Sc slides
| occurred within the city limits of Portland, and
has formed the abrupt embankment OF Bramhalls
Hill. Mr.. G. b. Fuller ana others have oitenimes
| remarked the evidences of a slide at this place.
| A few weeks since made SPECIAL examination of
this spot and all the characteristics OF land slide
are as plainly seen as If the slide occurre,i yesIer-
| day On looking down iroal the embankment, the
! lateral ridges TO front the embankment
While examining this slide, my attention was at.
| tracted to the evidences of a liver once running
through Deering's Oaks and into B OK Cove, show
| ing clearly broad river bed. As one passes over
|
| examines the estuary across which the briuge
| built, he cannot help reInarking the evidences
| of the former presence of river at
that place, pouring into Back Cove. The
| traces of teri ace plainly exist. To the west of
this region scattered brick yards. and the who
| surface is low and clayey, The surface sand being
| quhe removed, and, as 1 believe, by series Of
land slides. All these evidencesr prove that at
time large body of water poured through this
region, cutting out the long estuary called the
"Fore River" producing the Bramhall slide. aud
at one time, Oh being turned aside through Deer
ing's Oaks assisting, at least, in wearing out the
estuary called Back Cove. Certainly the Stroud
water river is too small stream to have produced
these results, since il has no natural rese vor al
drains but small portion oI country. My brother,
who is quite thoroughly versed ID the surface lea.
lures Of this region, concIrs with me IL the opm-
| ion that at one time the PIesumpscot river flowed
| through these estuaries and originally formed the
the Fore River estuary.
An additional proof OF this is seen in the traces
of another slide of grear magnitude, which we be-
| lieye first turned the Presumpscot river into its
present course, The outlet of this slide is occu-
| pied by the village of Saccarappa. 1t will be nos
tIced that this slide occurred the south side of
| the river at the precise angle where 1t would be
! exneoted and s of sufficient magnitude 10 have
| nroduced these results. And furthermore nv
brother has partly traced the old bed of the river
commencing south of Saccarappa ana rum ing
through marshy land whose waters empty into
| Fore River.