Saratoga and How to See It by R. F. Dearborn
page 44 of 125 (35%)
page 44 of 125 (35%)
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bundles of twigs resting upon the dark-brown or black soil of a
previous swamp. Evidently some ancient seekers after health had found the spring in the swamp, and to make it more convenient to secure the water had piled brush around it, and then laid down the logs as a curb. But you inquire, how came the rock, which weighed several tons, above the logs? The rock was formed by the water. It is composed of tufa, carbonate of lime, and was formed in the same manner as stalactites and stalagmites are formed. As the water flowed over the logs, the evaporation of a portion of the carbonic acid gas caused the separation of an equivalent quantity of insoluble carbonate of lime, which, layer by layer, built up the mound. A fragment of the rock which I possess contains leaves, twigs, hazel nuts, and snail shells, which, falling from time to time upon it, were incrusted and finally imprisoned in the stony mass. [Illustration: SECTION OF HIGH ROCK] Analysis of a Fragment of the Rock Carbonate of lime 95.17 Carbonate of magnesia 2.49 Sesquioxide of iron 0.07 Alumina 0.22 Sand and clay 0.09 Organic matter 1.11 Moisture 0.39 Undetermined 0.46 ------ 100.00 |
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