Massachusetts

MASSACHUSETTS, popularly known as the "Bay State," is one of the New England group of the United States of America. The name Massachusetts was derived from that of an Indian tribe. It was one of the earliest English colonies in America and one of the original 13 States forming the American Union.

Until 1819 it included what is now the State of Maine but as since constituted it is bounded on the north by Vermont and New Hampshire, on the east by the Atlantic ocean, on the south by the ocean, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and on the west by New York. Owing to its peculiar form, these boundaries are only ap proximate in the east. Its main portion forms a parallelogram about 13om. from east to west and 46m. from north to south, its straight southern boundary being almost coincident with the parallel of 42 N. In the east, the State spreads out, extending con siderably south and somewhat north of the lines of the parallelo gram, the counties of Plymouth and Barnstable forming the pe culiar "pot-hook" of Cape Cod. The State extends approximately from 69° 57' to 73° 3o' W. Boston, the capital and principal city, is in about the same latitude as Rome. The total area is 8,266sq. m., of which about 227 are water.

Physical Features.

These can be understood in their full sig nificance only by a slight reference to those of New England as a whole. The Appalachian mountain barrier which extends from south-west to north-east parallel to most of the eastern coast-line of the United States continues through western New England in the Berkshire hills and the Green and White mountains. From the base of these ranges a gently sloping upland descends south and eastward to Long Island sound and the Atlantic ocean. The only large river, navigable for any considerable portion, is the Connec ticut, which flows southward from the Green mountains of Ver mont to the Sound. As Massachusetts in form is a long narrow strip extending westward from the ocean, it runs at right angles, so to speak, to these principal New England features of mountains and river. Its eastern two-thirds is mostly made up of the sloping

upland. West of that the State is divided by the Connecticut val ley, the best portion and maritime outlet of which is in Connecti cut, and west of that again lie the mountainous western counties.

There are several small ranges, each with local names, in the Berkshires. The more eastern is that known as the Hoosac hills which have an elevation of only 1,200 to i,600ft. and divide the valley of the Connecticut river from that of the smaller hut more picturesque Housatonic. Bordering the lowlands of the Connecti cut a few well-known hills rise to a marked height above the gen eral level, such as Mt. Tom (1,214ft.), Mt. Holyoke (954ft.), and Mt. Toby (1,275ft.). West of this, in what is known locally as more particularly the Berkshire region, we find such peaks as Mt. Williams (3,o4oft.) and Greylock (3,535ft.). From the Connecti cut valley eastward the elevations steadily decrease to the coast and the extreme south-eastern portion is low-lying and sandy.

There are a few exceptions, such as Mt. Lincoln (1,246ft.), Mt. Wachusett (2,Io8ft.) and the Blue hills. These, like those men tioned in the western section, appear to be residual peaks of an original mountain range which covered the entire State in the geological era before the whole had been levelled to the plain which was then, by the secondary process already noted, carved into its present features. The existence of this original mountain range is also indicated by the structure and extremely complicated disorder of the gneiss and crystalline schist of the uplands. On the other hand, the valley of the now much shrunken Connecticut river is composed mainly of shale and soft sandstone. The evidences of the glacial period occur everywhere, the entire State having been covered by the ice-sheet, with resultant glaciation of the rocks, as far as the Cape Cod peninsula where we find traces of the terminal moraine.