Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-05-20
IN THE LOCAL FIELD.
THE PROFESSIONAL CLUB.
DIR. WILLIAM B. cLARK's PAPER
"On Certain Aspects of Local Geology"

Read at the Annual 'Ladie-'" Night
Meeting. Tuesday Evening. May ~.
When our ancestors, less than two cent
uries ago entered this region and sought
to establish here their future homes, they
found the same mountains and hills and
streams with which We are today familiar
The Connecticut received then, as now,
the drainage Of the same broad tract that
lies between the Green mountains upon
the west and the highlands of New Hamp-
shire upon the east. Wantastiquet and
Black mountain and WickOpee, and many
another landmark, presented the same char
acteristic outlines at that time as at the
present. The oldest inhabitant, looking
backward to his boyhood days, can tell us
of no changes of importance in the topog-
raphy Of the region. Recognizing all this we
are impressed with the permanence Of our
mountains and our valleys. Wespeak of the
eternal hills and the everlasting mountains;
vet time was when they were not. To
trace all the changes that have occurred in
the earth's development may not be posi-
bic, but geology, due to the patient OBJ
servations of its many workers in every
portion Of the globe, can show how the
forces Of nature have produced many of
their nOblest results.
Geology as a science is one of the young
est: yet, throughout all of human history
the facts with which the geologist has to
deal have attracted universal attention.
For several centuries preceding our own
the consideration Of geological phenomena
was 50 closely connected with theological
discussion that every attempt to find other
than "A supernatural explanation for the
processes of nature was held to be hereti-
cal. and received the condemnation of the
church. The theological writings of the
middle ages and of the centuries just sue
ceedng the Christian era have frequent
references to the origin of the earth and
the changes by which the present cOndi-
tion of things was brought about. AL
though most fantastic and wholly unscen-
tifc, they were yet discussions of geOogi-
cal phenomena and form part Of the
history of that science. The sacred writ
ings of the old and new testaments also
contain many references to geological
processes, and frequently with an accuracy
of statement, that, Invested Of their orr
entail phraseOlOgy, is striking in the eX-
IRENE. How prophetic OF the conclusion
of modern geological research is that verse
=
and every mountain and hill shall be made
low; and the crooked shall be made
straight and the rough places plain; and
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
There could be no more fitting prelude to
what shall have to say tonight than those
words of Isaiah, written nearly 5000 years
ago. 1t would be difficult to formulate to-
day better statement of the changing eff
fects of time in modifying the surface con-
figuration of the land.
ON several occasions during the lifetime
of every one present here tonight, the old
river that flows at the base of yOnder hill
has reached beyond its usual level and
brought destruction to hitherto fertile
fields. We have then perhaps realized that
in food-time changes may occur, but that
they have any wider significance may not
have been suggested to us.
Let us pause for moment and enquire
whether there may not be forces acting dai-
" about us, but whose importance may not
have been recognized, that, continued
through long periods of time, may be po-
tent factors of change. And when speak
of time-periOds in the history of the earth
| shall not attempt to find a standard in
years, since, in the development of our
globe, | can say with the Psalmist. "For a
lnOllSdllu years III my NlElll dlt DAI dN YES
terday when it is past" Looking at ma
ture, then, as the result of cumulative
changes, we may perhaps be better able to
understand geological processes. During
every summer shower we find the water,
as it accumulates beside the roadways,
muddy from the minute particles of earth
that it is bearing on its way from the high
err levels of the land to the lower. The
rivulet into which it empties is itself made
muddy, and should the rain be long CON
tinued enough loose earth would find its
way down all the tributaries to render the
largest river turbId. But the river is NOV
ing onward to the sea and will ultimately
merge its waters with those of the ocean,
while the muddy sediment of the stream
will slowly settle until it finds a resting
place upon the bottom.
But let us return again to the sources.
Whence comes the loose earth that is thus
readily transported by the stream? Has it
always been loose earth? If we examine
its particles beneath the microscope we find
that it is not unlike the solid rocks that
here and there project above the surface,
and are thus forced to the conclusion that
it has had a common origin 1t is in fact
the dsntegrated rock which on the surface
may become mixed with decayng vegeta-
ZION 10 FORM WllaJ Is knONll rs SUI. ne
rain, falling upon the surface, envelopes
the minute fragments aud quickly removes
them. The larger masses also' in time of
protracted storm and on the sleeper hill
sides, find their way into the valleys,
whence theyare rolled along by the swollen
streams Striking against one another and
secured by the muddy water they become
rounded, forming the pebbles so common
i'm every brook. During food time, as they
are carried farther downward, they are
made smaller and smaller, and finally at the
mouth of the river are borne into the sea
as fine sediments. 1t is like the mill that
receives the coarse materials and turns out
the fine, but our natural mill is ever grind
ing and has been from the time the land
was separated from the sea.
Some most interesting estimates have
been made in the Mississippi basin of the
amount of materials thus removed, and
careful experiments show that the average
proportion of mud and sand contained in
the water of the Mississippi is l-150Oth
part by weight, and, computing the amount
of water annually discharged by the river,
it is found that 100000 900 cubic feet of
mud, sand and gravel are carried every
year into the Gulf of Mexico. This would
amOuut i'm 1000 wears To n removal of ono