History of Littleton, New Hampshire (Volume 1) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: II. THE GEOLOGY OF LITTLETON. By C. H. HITCHCOCK, Ph.d., LL.D. SUNDRY facts relating to the geology of Littleton have appeared in C. T. Jackson's State Report, 1844; in the Geology of the State of Vermont, 1861; in the Annual and Final Reports of the State Survey, 1868-1878; a Paper upon the Hel- dcrberg of New Hampshire, etc., in the " American Journal of Science," 1874; an Atlas of the State of New Hampshire, by Comstock and Kline, 1877; Geological Sections across New Hampshire and Vermont, in the State Agricultural Report for 1884; and lastly, a notice of the Discovery of Trilobites, by T. Nrlsiui Dale, in a Canadian publication. The present sketch is based upon the facts contained in these publications, supplemented by several visits made subsequently for the purpose of gaining more precise information. New facts have been discovered at each visit, and the rapid progress of the science necessitates a rearrangement of the conclusions not anticipated. It is to be regretted that our knowledge is still so incomplete. The township is traversed by two rivers, ? the Connecticut and Ammonoosuc. The first constitutes the boundary on the northwest side, more than thirteen miles long. The principal portion of the " Fifteen Miles Falls" is situated within the limits of Littleton. The head is in Dalton, to the north, 830 feet above the sea, and the foot in Monroe, near the mouth of the Passumpsic, 460 feet above the sea, the total fall being 370 feet. Of this amount, 300 feet lie within the town limits. With such a great descent, the river is narrow and the shores rocky, with an absence of the intervales so abundant in both the upper and lower sections of the river. These features result from the geological conformation. A range of mountains has been cut across by the ...