The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1874-04-01

The material of this dixie is very heavy,
having a specific gravity Of 2.05. 1t is very hard
and tough as rock, but works well under the
hammer At Lambertville it is now extcn.
sively dressed into sills, cornice. and the like,
and promises fair to be an inexhaustible
i source Of wealth, It Is said to rival the best
granite found In the country, and at this
place, lying upon the very bank of the canal,
and by the side Of railroad, in so short a
distance 81 the best markets In the world, II
is but just to point it out as one Of the great
sources Of wealth OF this part Of our State
| The boulders of this Bassalt when freely
exposed to the vicssitades Of the atmosphere,
have tendency to spontaneous fracture and
SO far as my observation has gone, the frac-
ture generally runs in q northerly and south
erly direction; and generally the fractures
are vertical, less often, horizontal This
tendency may be seen almost at any place
throughout tile whole line of powders, and
at some places, the horizontal fracturing has
made it appear as though one rock had been
laid on tho topof another, to the extent,
sometimes, of three or four layers. Another
popularity is the tendency to spontaneous cx-
foliation in concentric layers and these lay
ers rapidly to crumble to pieces, making the
sandy or gravelly soil found almost every
where among these rocks These spawls or
concentric layers vary very much in thickness
from an eighth of an inch to several inches.-
In fact in some cases it seems almost as If a
single layer of particles on some particular
side or sides Of the rock had prepared to fall
off at the same time; and when this surface
has been completely bare. the opposite side
sheds it's coat in a like manner. So general is
this action seen, and so powerful is this agen-
cy III reducing all the powders now upon the
surface to the condition of SOIL that around
almost any rock that stands from one to four
feet above the earth, may be seen complete
ring of gravel or sand, freshly fallen from the
parent rock, rapidly undergoing disintegra-
tion. and forming fresh supply of soil 1t
is in this way that all the powders have been
converted from an angular and rough form,
to the present rounded and smooth appear
ance. An evidence of this may be seenin any
case where the rock has either undergone
spontaneous augmentation, or has been broken
off by blasting, or with the .sledge. For the
first year or two, the new surfaces are bright
in COLOR but soon they fade, the corners dis
integrate, and in q few years tho angular pro-
ieotions have crnmbled to soil; and the core
or central part of the bowlder is all that pre-
sents the appearance of the old rock.
IS At some places for instance along tho road
sides north of Rocktown, and near Wood
rough store, may be seen buried up in a
soil made by the disintegration of this Bas-
salt, numerous rounded pieces, from six inch
es to foot, or two feet, in diameter, sur
rounded by loose concentric lamina, yet slow
ly crumbling to earth, that no doubt from
their position and arrangement in the bank,
not many centuries ago, were large fragments
slowly Wondering as are now their neighbors
LAYING but few rods to the south, upon the
surface of the ground. Hence in these places
as elsewhere, has been formed those gravel,
and sandy soils of this mountain range, tina
are so deep and so prolific when compared t.
the rest of the mountain land. The two mai
, ural processes Of reducing these fragments t.
soil are worthy of consideration, and explain
very many curious things seen among tn
: boulders of this ridge A little south o
! Woodrough's store, on the west side of thu
road, about twenty-five yards from the fence
is large bowlder projecting its upper leve
surface some three or four feet above the soil
This table-rocls is about twenty-seven feet
long and about twenty six feet wide, superim-
posed by three irregular oblong rocks, in
length about fifteen feet, in height five feet and
in width about seven feet-known as the
"Three Brothers" Along the east side of the
base-rock lays bowlder about one half the
size. of one Of the brothers !, which within
a few years has dropped from one of these su-
perimposng fragments 4; and within few
years, another augmentation will take place
with another Of the Brothers, fact, 1t has
long since begun, and is rapidly completing
its work. Now, these five rocks, the table
the three brothers. and the fragment which
has fallen off, havein an earlier day been but
one rock like manyrof their neighbors lying
near by-an immense bowlder almost cubical
in shape. At first the augmentation took
place horizontally; and when the two parts
had grown entirely distinct and their adjacent
edges somewhat rounded, by the exfoliating
process, the upper rock fractured from east to
west vertically but these several vertical
fractures didnot all take place at the same
time. At first was separated the south Broth
en-" after which the northern piece divided in
two and finally the segment that now lies on
the ground fell off from the south Brother. +"
Notwithstanding these I" Three Brothers
have been exposed, for at least century, per-
haps two or thrce--to the disintegrating in
fuence of the atmosphere, yet, so uniform has
been the exfoliation that il the three rocks
were pushed together, just as they now lay,
their contiguous surfaces would almost exact
ly coincide, and they would again appear,
excepting the seams, as one rock. On the
east side, of the road, little north Of the
"Three Brothers, may be seen specimens OF
this kind of work on scale far more grand.
But as they are farther removed from public
view, their fantastic forms have not SO much
attracted the attention Of the populace Yet
,1,o,,Id ,,ot omit m sav that the large bOul-