,,the ,,course ,,of ,,creation3 ,,by ,,john ,,anderson1 ,d4,d4 ,,with ,a ,,glossary ,,of ,,scientific ,,terms4 8,in these morning-days of existence1 ,nature at once stamped1 with her plastic hand1 her lineaments of beauty and adaptation on everything she made4 ,there is nothing omitted to be afterward supplied--nothing formed defective in a single part or organ that required to be corrected4 ,the first discoveries in ,geology at once speak conclusively of a plan or ,course of ,creation devised from the beginning--a power1 not delegated1 but linked forever with the first intelligent ,cause--a world1 through all its changes1 continually presided over and ruled by ,him who made it40 ,,cincinnati3 ,,wm4 ,h4 ,,moore ,,co41 ,,publishers1 #aah ,,main ,,street4 #ahea4 ,entered1 according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahea1 by ,,wm4 ,h4 ,,moore ,,co41 ,in the ,clerk's ,office of the ,district ,court for the ,district of ,ohio4 ,e4 ,,morgan ,,co41 ,,stereotypers1 ,,printers ,,and ,,binders1 #aaa ,,main ,,street4 ,,preface4 ,it is no mitigation of an author's temerity in publishing1 that he can say for himself he had no intention1 when collecting and arranging his materials1 of ever submitting them to the eye of the public1 or of provoking criticism by his speculations4 ,certain it is1 however1 ,i have often1 and with severity at times1 questioned myself as to the propriety of my geological pursuits1 my ardent love of them1 and their compatibility with the strict discharge of professional duty4 ,my answer generally was1 ,i sought not these things of themselves2 they were hung up and displayed before me1 wherever ,i went on pleasure1 on business1 or on duty4 ,i simply inquired after their names2 and of all the geological phenomena that have passed under my review1 ,i can safely affirm of them1 in their darkest1 deepest places1 they have uniformly led me 8from nature up to nature's ,god10 and have inscribed upon them in brightest characters--,,benedictum ,,sit ,,nomen ,,dei4 ,how often1 ,i have argued1 in the leisure hours of life do we find men idling away their time1 wasting it in vain talk1 or consuming it in the most trifling pursuits1 when a most interesting branch of science can be learned by wandering over the green fields1 the rocky dell1 the mountain side1 or by the walk at even-tide1 and there to hold converse with the ,creator's works and the records of his will8 ,i have recalled the list of great and good men1 whose names are imperishably connected with the science of geology1 who have given much of their time to these researches1 and who have reaped laurels from their discoveries4 ,can ,buckland1 ,conybeare1 ,sedgwick1 ,sumner1 ,smith1 ,fleming1 and ,chalmers--all either explorers or expositors--and other eminent divines1 have been engaged in improper pursuits1 or have given the sanction of their authority to tenets and views connected with the scheme of nature that do not accord with the religious principle8 ,often on such occasions have ,i dwelt upon1 and compared with my own humble pursuits1 the lofty and impassioned descriptions of the ,psalmist1 where1 sometimes in a single piece1 he takes a magnificent sweep of the great master-keys of creation--the foundations of the steadfast earth--the course of the fluid waters--the revolutions of the sun and moon--the vicissitude of the seasons--the habits and instincts of the lower animals--the earthquake and volcano--and all recited as demonstrations of ,divine wisdom and goodness1 and all calculated to awaken and to sustain the devotional feelings of the heart4 ,having1 under the influence of such impressions1 gathered1 and now put together in this form1 the notes of my researches1 ,i do not mean to aver that ,i have visited every locality referred to1 or personally observed everything noticed in the publication4 ,where so much has been done by others ,i have carefully examined their works4 ,where the field is so boundless1 and the course of illustration necessarily so discursive1 ,i have freely made use of their collected materials4 ,still1 ,i have been chiefly induced to adopt the line of description from the ,grampians to the ,alps1 because1 at sundry though often distant periods1 ,i have examined the various suites of rocks comprised betwixt these mountain boundaries4 ,if there be any novelty in the volume1 it will be found1 not in the subject-matter itself nor in the mode of treating it1 but by following the geographical sequence in the descriptions of the several geological formations1 and their relations to each other in the countries passed over4 ,i have to express my acknowledgments to ,messrs4 ,w4 and ,r4 ,chambers for a considerable number of the figures contained in the volume1 and which have already appeared in one or other of their numerous publications4 ,to ,mr4 ,david ,page1 than whom ,i do not know a better practical geologist1 ,i am indebted for much valuable information1 gleaned by him in an extensive acquaintance with most of the ground passed under review4 ,the errors of the volume are my own1 and these1 ,i doubt not1 in a science subject to such daily mutations and receiving daily such additions as the science of geology1 will be found neither few nor venial4 ,,newburgh ,,manse1 ,may1 #ahej4 ,,contents ,,part ,i4 ,,geology ,,of ,,scotland4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,introductory--,general ,sketch of the ,science1 #ac ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,primary ,system4--,ben-,mac-,dhui4--,the ,grampians1 #bb ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,silurian ,system4--,first ,traces of ,organic ,life1 #cd ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,devonian ,system4--,fossils of the ,old ,red ,sandstone1 #dc ,,chapter ,v4 ,the ,yellow ,sandstone4--,dura ,den--,fossils of1 #fb ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,the ,trap ,rocks4--,the ,sidlaws and ,ochils1 #gi ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,the ,carboniferous ,system4--,period of ,gigantic ,vegetables1 #ic ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,the ,carboniferous ,system--continued4--,geographical ,distribution of ,coal4--,the ,great ,coal-,field of ,pennsylvania1 ,virginia1 and ,ohio4--,coal ,deposits of ,kentucky1 ,indiana1 ,illinois1 and ,michigan4--,economic ,history of ,coal4--,conditions of ,formation1 #aae ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,geological ,structure of ,fifeshire1 #acb ,,chapter ,x4 ,geology of ,edinburgh and its ,environs4--,mid-,lothian ,coal-,basin4--,the ,pentlands1 #ach ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,the ,lammermuirs4--,the ,border ,land4--,reptilian ,foot-,prints in ,old ,red ,sandstone of ,pennsylvania4--,general ,structure of ,scotland1 #aej ,,part ,,ii4 ,,geology ,,of ,,england4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,general ,sketch4--,geology of the ,lake ,district1 #afj ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,the ,permian ,system4--,the ,new ,red ,sandstone4--,foot-,prints near ,pottsville1 ,pennsylvania--,in ,connecticut1 ,massachusetts1 and ,virginia4--,rock-,salt4--,exhumation of immense ,skeletons of ,birds1 #afh ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,oolite ,system4--,period of ,gigantic ,reptiles1 #ahc ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,wealden ,formation--,remarkable ,fossils of1 #aih ,,chapter ,v4 ,the ,cretaceous ,system4--,general ,reflections1 #bjf ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,the ,tertiary ,system--,eocene and ,miocene ,formations of4--,london ,basin1 #baf ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,the ,mammoth ,period4--,remains of1 on ,banks of ,missouri4--,concluding ,remarks1 #bbi ,,part ,,iii4 ,,france ,,and ,,switzerland4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,physical ,union of ,france with ,england4--,basins of ,paris and the ,loire4--,volcanic ,district of ,central ,france--,auvergne1 #bda ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,geological ,structure of ,switzerland--,the ,alps--,mont ,blanc--,bowlder ,formation--,glaciers1 #bfe ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,thickness of the ,earth's ,crust4--,central ,heat--,theories of1 #bgi ,,part ,,iv4 ,,general ,,principles4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,rsum1 #bhf ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,theories of ,organic ,life--8,vestiges of the ,natural ,history of ,creation10 #bic ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,analogical ,order--,physical and ,moral--of ,progression1 #caa ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,extinction of ,organic ,life1 #cbj ,,chapter ,v4 ,time1 and the ,geological ,epochs1 #cbh ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,the ,mosaic ,account of ,creation--,geology1 how reconcilable with1 #cdh ,,conclusion4 ,,the ,,creator1 #cff ,glossary1 #cgg ,,the ,,course ,,of ,,creation4 ,,geology ,,of ,,scotland4 ,,part ,i4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,introductory4 ,geology is that branch of science which comprehends the knowledge of all that relates to the form1 structure1 mineral and fossil constituents1 of the earth4 ,the ,scottish ,grampians1 it is generally admitted1 form part of the lowest sections of its crust1 to which the researches of geologists extend4 ,we must go to other countries for any coeval1 and1 to ,north ,america for any older1 competing land3 and still1 there1 the rocks are of the same mineral qualities and arrangement4 ,the ,ben-,mac-,dhui group form the highest and most prominent masses in the whole range of these crystalline mountains4 ,when ,i first stood on the broad flat top of ,ben-,mac-,dhui1 ,i had no thought or purpose of ever recording its geological history4 ,the excursion was undertaken simply for recreation1 and a delightful one it proved4 ,i longed to plunge into the deep recesses of the old forest1 and to see the trees which nature had strewed with careless hand1 ere1 perhaps1 ,caledonia was tenanted by the human family4 ,i looked down from its rugged sides1 as ,i ascended1 with awe and wonder--snatched a little alpine as ,i drew breath for the next spring--chipped a piece of granite as ,i obtained a footing over a yawning chasm1 or breasted along by jagged precipitous defile1--and when1 having fairly scaled the summit1 ,i gazed out upon the world beneath1 the feeling which for a moment flitted across my mind was one of no merely vain complacency1 that ,i was then the most elevated subject of all the twenty-six or twenty-seven millions inhabiting the ,british ,islands--and the lowest1 too1 in their stony regions6 ,the mountains of the earth serve to inspire some of the loftiest sentiments that can fill the breast of its intelligent inhabitants4 ,imbosomed in their deep solitudes1 man feels his own littleness1 and is forced to inquire who made these wonders1 and who sustains them8 ,we are all the better1 morally speaking1 for leaving occasionally our daily-trodden haunts1 where we see only human things1 and hear only of the triumphs of human craft1 the excitement of human passions1 the littleness and vanity of even the noblest human daring4 ,there is an image of ,jehovah's greatness impressed upon the outward face of nature1 which for a time will awaken and sustain the most salutary reflections1 breathing1 as it were1 a new life into the soul of the wayfarer4 ,a man escapes from himself1 forgetting the burden of a thousand petty cares1 and rising above his sensual condition1 when he looks upon the physical world in these its grander features and secluded scenes1 which irresistibly speak to the inner sense of divinity1 wisdom1 and omnipotence4 ,the philosophy of the mountains1 in the classic ages of ,greece and ,rome1 inclined but little to any analysis of their grosser materials of earth and stone4 ,the poetic and ideal were exclusively associated with their structures and form4 ,the dii majores dwelt upon1 and thundered from1 their lofty summits4 ,the clouds hovered in peaceful majesty over their council of sage or fierce debate4 ,the elements were the ready ministers of their will2 and ,oreads1 ,dryads1 and ,naiads1 peopling all the hills1 forests1 and streams1 were the creations of that principle of the inner man1 which has always searched for the spiritual behind and beyond the tangible attributes of ,nature4 ,hence1 too1 the gnomes of the caverns1 the spirits of the mists1 the fairies of the glens1 the kelpies of the torrents1 were all the embodiment of forms1 which fancy1 in her later superstitions1 has cast around the mountain landscape1 with the witchery at once of the terrible and beautiful4 ,the charm that spell-bound the human mind for ages1 is not dissolved when1 with ruder intent1 we traverse these rocky solitudes1 listening to the echo of our obedient hammer1 learning the secrets of the universe amidst the voices of the everlasting hills1 and seeing the wonders of the material world throwing light on the wonders of the spiritual4 ,we are reminded1 among the mountains1 of one of the first and loveliest of all material things1 the creation of light4 ,loving them for their own sakes1 as well as for the legends of the old world with which they are everywhere inscribed1 the geologist takes to the hills with the first faint fresh streak of dawn4 ,emerging with earliest day from the somber shades of the forest which1 like night1 invests the prospects with its own sadness and gloom1 speedily a scene of joy and activity bursts upon the sight4 ,the light comes upon you like a real tangible thing4 ,you see it glinting and breaking on the lofty ridge1 then nearing down along the brown slope of the mountain1 here projecting in long bright lines through the trees1 and there--delicious1 golden morn6 first-born of ,nature's children1 harbinger of life and gladness4 ,how beautiful are thy first footsteps upon the heath-clad mountains6 ,what a brood of gloomy thoughts thou dispellest1 chasing them before thee1 like yonder envious mists rising lazily from the plains1 valleys1 and streams1 which they would fain hide from the eyes that now revel amid their exuberant loveliness4 ,these lofty peaks are worthy altars for the beacon-fires of the orb of day1 after he has finished his journey through the nations2 and comes back to us1 over the floating splendor of the sea1 in the eastern heavens4 ,and see6 he hath lit a hundred on these splintered summits1 which blaze now as they blazed centuries ago1 and diminish not6 ,the view from this remarkable group of mountains--the most remarkable by far in the island--differs much from any other with which ,i am acquainted4 ,the impressions at first are all very confused1 and some time is required to resolve into distinct pictures the wondrous panorama before you4 ,we have stood upon ,skiddaw1 where everything is clear1 distinct1 and palpable in distance and form2 on ,ben ,lomond1 where the far-stretch of perspective over lakes1 rivers1 and plains1 is like a first lesson in painting2 on ,ben ,lawers1 where the eye sweeps rapidly over well known1 familiar objects1 spots of wood1 glen1 and mansion2 on ,ben ,nevis1 where you fancy yourself in mid-air1 every object is so separate and apart1 and so disposed the whole you are looking on1 that the view is all downward upon the picture4 ,but here1 these dark giant masses crowd as it were against you4 ,there is a struggle for the post of elevation4 ,you are highest1 no doubt of that2 but so jealous all are these proud somber peaks1 that every one seems to overlook1 though yet actually beneath1 the broad ample table-head of the center of the group4 ,sometimes one is tempted to leap across the narrow dells of separation1 and at once master the geology of the district1 so near seems every hill-top as almost to be touched4 ,but as you approach their several positions1 expanding valleys1 deep fathomless chasms1 and the channels of noble rivers1 bar farther approach1 and attest the wide1 independent domains of each4 ,they are monarchs every one of them--,brae-,riach1 ,cairn-,toul1 ,cairn-,gorm1 ,ben-,avon1 ,ben-y-,bourd--each holds his own regal court1 over tarn1 lake1 and stream2 torrents1 cataracts1 and all the appurtenances of the boldest mountain scenery4 ,after one has time to gather up his thoughts and perceptions1 the scene resolves itself1 still indeed as of one whole1 but of distinct component parts4 ,in the far distance you attempt in vain to number the peaks that everywhere rise against the sky line2 but more closely around1 five or six summits are seen to spring from a single root2 a common circumference marks out the limits of the group2 and1 by no unreasonable liberty with the imagination1 you easily replace the old materials into the vacant interstices1 before the water had begun its work of abrasion1 or the earthquake coming to its assistance shivered their solid rounded forms into these hideous1 precipitous gorges and chasms4 ,the great hills here stand1 every one of them1 upward of four thousand feet above the level of the sea2 and when entire1 one aggregated whole1 as possibly they originally were1 the center mass may have towered thousands more into the overhanging firmament4 ,the scene is utterly unmatched1 as it cannot be described1 by any other in ,great ,britain3 and make your ascent when you may1 there are sights and objects to be met with at every step1 in every salient dell1 that will cause you evermore to rejoice you commenced your travels among the ,aiguilles of ,ben-,muich-,dhui4 ,it is in the great mountain groups that the true key is to be found to the science of geology1 as well as all those collateral circumstances which impart so much charm to it as a healthful and invigorating exercise to mind and body4 ,here1 amidst these piled-up masses1 we are furnished with the lowest ascertained sections of the earth's crust1 from which we can at once study the nature of its rocky divisions1 and the laws which prevail in the order of their superposition4 ,when the world was in its primeval state of chaos1 without form and void1 we are warranted to assume that the mountains as yet had no place on its surface1 but subsequently arose out of the bosom of the deep2 and lifted up1 as they emerged above the waters1 the rocky strata already enveloping the globe4 ,these strata are still to be seen folded round the central masses1 disrupted and torn like a garment too tight for the body1 and displaying through innumerable cracks and fissures the inclosed rocks4 ,this fact lies at the foundation of all geological inquiries1 gives to the subject all its pretensions as a science1 and before proceeding on our 8,course0 a word of explanation will be in place4 ,the first condition of the earth1 of which we have any historical notice1 is that which is represented in ,genesis1 where1 after the initial declaration that ,god was creator of all things1 we are told of a period when the whole of its materials were as yet unarranged1 8and darkness was upon the face of the deep40 ,the ,divine ,spirit moved upon the surface of the shapeless mass1 when the various elements of air1 earth1 and water gradually assumed their respective positions4 ,the form which the earth had impressed upon it1 as philosophy has demonstrated1 was that of a spherical body1 flattened at the poles1 a figure resembling as nearly as possible that of an orange4 ,there is reason to believe1 therefore1 that every part of the solid mass of earth is symmetrically arranged1 and that every individual particle occupies the position which ,divine wisdom has assigned it4 ,rocks1 let the reader be assured1 have not been indiscriminately heaped together4 ,everything here1 amidst all the apparent confusion which surrounds us1 is in the most perfect order1 following one uniform law of superposition4 ,when ,god fixed the foundations of the earth1 stretched his compass 8upon the face of the deep10 and laid 8the beams of his chambers in the waters10 he completed the mighty edifice agreeably to the plan which he had determined upon 8from the beginning30 the different portions of the building rise one above another in regular succession2 and the work1 so far as we can survey the interior1 displays the several courses into which the materials have been thrown4 ,these constitute what geologists call the strata of the earth1 layers of varying thickness1 such as our slates1 sandstones1 and limestones exhibit1 and which nearly envelope the circumference of the globe4 ,the order in which the strata are disposed is uniform from below upward1 and this order is never inverted4 ,from the blue slates of the ,grampians to the ,chalk cliffs at ,dover1 there is a regular succession of intermediate rocks1 piled one upon another like the mason-work of our houses2 and while to many there appears nothing but confusion1 to the scientific eye every portion of the series1 although the same ingredients enter into several classes of rocks1 is as well defined and as easily recognized1 as the two members at the extreme points are by the common observer4 ,but beside the stratified rocks1 there is another class of rocks equally extensive1 and which occupy an important place in the economy of nature4 ,these are the granites and whinstones of which the highest mountain ranges are usually composed4 ,there are many subordinate varieties belonging to both classes1 which are characterized by slight shades of texture and composition and distinguished by different names4 ,one thing is common to the members of each group4 ,they are not disposed in layers1 and exhibit no lines of stratification1 except in the granite rarely1 throughout the entire mountain chain4 ,these rocks occupy no fixed place in the order of superposition1 but seem to be intruded in the most irregular manner among the stratified rocks1 separating one bed from another1 filling up fissures and rents2 and binding and interlacing the various deposits more closely and firmly together4 ,they are often composed of the fragments of other rocks1 agglutinated into a compound mass by a base of clay4 ,remarkable changes are also produced upon all the strata where they come in contact with granite and whinstone--chalk being converted into crystalline limestone--limestone into chert--clay and sandstone into a substance as hard and compact as flint--and coal is deprived of its bitumen or the quality which renders it so useful as a combustible body4 ,from these1 and other appearances1 geologists have been led to the conclusion1 that these rocks are of later origin than those which are stratified1 that they have been injected among them in a state of fusion2 and by the expansive force of internal heat1 that they have burst through the stony crust of the earth1 and elevated and disrupted the strata which compose it4 ,they are1 if we may use the expression1 the levers which the ,almighty has employed in bringing up the lower deposits to the surface1 in laying open the interior chambers1 and in producing all that infinite variety in our earthly habitation which ministers to the comfort and well-being of man4 ,much seeming confusion and disturbance mark everywhere the course of these rocks1 similar1 though upon a more extensive scale1 to the disorders attendant upon the irruption of a modern volcano2 but throughout the whole there reigns such a harmony of purpose1 that the conclusion is irresistible1 these operations could only have taken place by ,divine permission1 and are in accordance with the ,divine plan1 controlling the most refractory agencies of nature1 and causing them to contribute to the general good4 ,these eruptive rocks have been produced under the sea1 at a period1 many of them1 when the waters and the dry land were not as yet separated from each other4 ,they are therefore termed sub-aqueous products1 and are1 in consequence of the pressure to which they have been subjected1 hard1 compact1 and heavy4 ,they differ in this respect from the products of modern volcanoes1 which are light and porous1 as being formed under the simple pressure of atmosphere1 and are denominated sub-aerial4 ,the most prevailing ingredient both in ancient and modern lavas is feldspar3 this1 combined with hornblende1 quartz1 and augite1 characterizes the whole of the two families of the trap and granitic rocks2 and completely establishes their claim to be regarded as originating in submarine volcanoes4 ,geology is thus in its first step1 and initial principles1 in perfect accordance with the scripture record2 and1 in walking over the varied fields of creation1 we shall tread all the firmer1 and enjoy our recreations all the more1 that we find the word and works of ,god illustrative of each other1 revelation never contradicted1 and science bearing enlightened testimony to the wonderful truth--that the hills melted like wax before the ,lord4 ,two reasons1 therefore1 are to be assigned for the starting point of our investigations1 and the route fixed upon in following them out4 ,this center group of mountains comprises the first or lowest phenomena connected with the science of geology3 here the earliest lessons are inscribed2 and here1 developed on a great scale1 we are presented with the axis of elevation which has given character and outline to the whole surrounding district4 ,ben-,mac-,dhui is the most prominent type of our primary mountains1 and has been mainly instrumental in lifting up a large portion of the ,grampian range4 ,looking abroad from its summit1 over all that varied landscape of plain and valley1 and further than the eye can reach1 summoning in imagination before us the successive strata as they recede in the far distance1 a diagram which would faithfully represent the order of the rocks and their relation and proximity to the granite1 would be quite correct in making ,ben-,mac-,dhui a pyramidal basis1 and the other formations as steps to the apex of the pyramid4 ,this lofty chain of primary rocks on the one hand1 and the ,alpine region of ,switzerland on the other1 may likewise be regarded as constituting the barriers or edges of one great basin1 within which are inclosed members of almost every rock formation1 fossiliferous as well as non-fossiliferous1 existing anywhere on the face of the earth4 ,along the line of tour indicated1 you pass over every intermediate deposit1 from below upward2 and have laid before you1 for inspection1 specimens of all that is interesting and curious in the science4 ,betwixt the two points1 selected as our termini1 lie strata upon strata1 organic bed upon bed1 not piled up in one colossal mass1 but drawn out and slipped over the edges of one another1 and so arranged and disposed at successive intervals as most happily to suit the convenience and successive stages of the journey4 ,this is one of the most remarkable facts in descriptive geology1 whereby we learn that a depth of nearly ten miles of solid rock can be duly examined1 every particle and fossil of it1 not by perforation downward to the bottom1 but by the natural inclination of the beds1 and their several outcrops rising to the surface like the inverted tiles on a roof4 ,in consequence of this persistent arrangement1 objects1 both new and strange1 will at every step meet the view4 ,there the whole system of geology1 page after page1 is spread out before you4 ,every day opens up a new chapter geographically1 as well as mineralogically divided4 ,and when you have gained the summit of ,mount ,blanc1 you can leisurely1 in the mind's eye1 look back over the whole ,,course ,,of ,,creation4 ,it is a reproach1 ,i am aware1 sometimes cast upon geological researches1 that the portion of the earth's surface exposed to view is as nothing compared with the entire mass1 and that another portion1 by far the largest segment1 is concealed by the ocean1 and its own debris4 ,in addition to these disadvantages1 it may now be objected that the line of description indicated narrows the field of research still farther1 and that a few disconnected materials only are all that can therefrom be extracted4 ,it may be answered1--8,that the earth is constructed with such a degree of uniformity1 that a tract of no very large extent may afford instances1 in all the leading facts1 that we can ever observe in the mineral kingdom4 ,the variety of geological appearances which a traveler meets with1 is not at all in proportion to the extent of country he traverses2 and if he take in a portion of land sufficient to include primitive and secondary strata1 together with mountains1 rivers1 and plains1 and unstratified bodies1 in veins and in masses1 though it be not a very large part of the earth's surface1 he may find examples of all the most important facts in the history of fossils40#a ,we shall1 however1 along with our lineal descriptions of the mineral kingdom1 notice the occurrence1 position1 and fossil contents of the strata as represented in other parts of the world4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,nature ,,and ,,structure ,,of ,,the ,,grampians4 ,,primary ,,rocks4 ,in beginning a description of the earth1 every one is prepared for the information1 that it must have existed in some form or other antecedent to the development of life upon its surface4 ,revelation asserts a succession in the objects created1 as well as in all the cosmical arrangements connected with the early history of our planet4 ,things were not perfected at once1 and brought simultaneously into adaptation and form2 a preparation and a fitting up1 as it were1 of the inorganic preceded the introduction of the organic structures of creation2 and1 accordingly1 the solid framework of the globe gives corroborative evidence of this anterior condition of its history4 ,the rocks of the period are1 from this circumstance1 denominated ,,primary1 because they not merely denote the absence1 but are assumed to have been formed before the existence1 of any types of organic matter1 vegetable or animal4 ,nowhere can this first lesson in geology be more forcibly taught than by an examination of the sterile rocks and rapidly decomposing precipices of this bleak and hoary region4 ,once through the glens1 and fairly commencing the ascent of the center mountain1 every symptom of existing life has disappeared2 and amid the huge1 tabular masses that accompany you in the upward journey1 there is no trace of organic forms in these vestiges of the past4 ,the nucleus of the whole group is granite1 one dense aggregation of crystals2 now rent and furrowed by a thousand seams1 the heart and penetralia bared and open1 a convulsed sea of molten matter still and motionless as the grave6 ,the associated rocks1 all of the primary class1 are gneiss1 mica-slate1 quartz-rock1 chlorite-slate1 and limestone2 and these inclose no relic of a living thing4 ,geology thus ascends the stream of ,time2 but it gives no farther tidings of a scene like this1 save that it arose from the depth beneath at the ,creator's bidding4 ,,the ,,structure ,,of ,,the ,,district4--,the mountain of ,ben-,mac-,dhui1 according to recent measurements1 is #d1dah feet in height1 and covers a superficial area of nearly forty miles in extent4 ,it occupies a central position in the ,grampian range1 being about equidistant betwixt ,aberdeen on the ,german ,sea and the western coast1 so ribbed and indented by the ,atlantic4 ,ranges of granitoid rocks1 of the primary class1 diverge for nearly forty miles south and north of ,ben-,mac-,dhui1 thereby giving this mountain a prominence in position possessed by no other within the boundaries of the island4 ,the valleys by which this monarch is surrounded1 open in every direction1 and run toward every point of the compass4 ,two great rivers1 the ,don and ,dee1 take their rise in some of the deep gullies of the mountain1 while the ,spey is fed by the innumerable streams that issue from its sides4 ,these rivers have each an easterly direction1 which1 by their water-shed1 give shape and character to the whole district4 ,a hundred lateral glens1 with their tributary streams1 and all their tarn-head or loch1 debouch upon the three principal straths1 whereby their deepest solitudes are reached1 and the very foundations of their loftiest peaks bared and laid open4 ,there1 remote from human habitation1 the geologist sees as it were two conditions of the world1--the one1 the shattered framework and fragments of its early convulsions1 huge mountains prostrate and crumbling beneath his feet1--and the other1 the spring-heads of renewed vitality collecting in countless dripping rills1 each to sustain its own little plot of pasturage and flowerets1 not the less welcome that they are all so rare and alpine1 and looking in their freshness as if they were there purposely to cicatrize and heal up the deep scars in the rugged precipices around4 ,loch-na-gar on the south-east1 and ,ben-y-gloe on the south-west1 have also their separate congeries of lofty hills and precipitous defiles1 inclosing tarns1 lochs1 and rivers2 likewise their own peculiar grouping of glens and straths1 whose inner recesses are all most speedily attained through the velvet pathways of their moss and crow-berry4 ,from the poetic peak the prospect is worthy of its fame4 ,all around is a vast rolling surface of mountains1 with steep mural precipices1 and separated by deep ravines1 while immediately underneath a cliff of #a1cjj feet lies the lake1 contracted to a span1 and rendered even darker in its gloom by the snowy glaciers that sparkle here and there on the overhanging rocks4 ,from ,loch-na-gar eastward to ,craigdarroch and the more distant ,morven1 and through the great forests of ,balloch-bowie1 ,glentanner1 and ,glenesk1 granite is the prevailing rock4 ,around ,balmoral1 immediately under 8these steep frowning glories10 the granite rises into a number of smaller and beautifully dome-shaped hills4 ,cloch-na-bein and ,mount ,battock1 washed by the ,feugh and the ,dye1 are likewise composed of granite4 ,gneiss1 mica-schist1 quartz-rock1 and clay-slate hang on the southern slopes1 training down into the plains of ,kincardine and ,forfarshire4 ,to the west of ,loch-na-gar1 and intermediate betwixt that range and the granitoid masses which cluster round ,ben-,mac-,dhui1 the same alternating series of stratified rocks occur4 ,from ,castleton to the head of ,loch ,callater1 and along by ,glen-clunie to the junction with ,glen-beg1 where the counties of ,aberdeen and ,perth meet1 the strike of these rocks is again passed over in a walk of a few miles2 the beds penetrated and tilted up by veins of granite and feldspar4 ,several dykes of the latter mineral1 of an extremely deep-red color and glassy crystalline texture1 traverse the district1 extending over a vast range of country1 penetrating indifferently the granites and schists1 and always forming attractive objects in the beds of the rivers4 ,in the immediate vicinity of ,castleton and ,invercauld1 the geological phenomena of the district are very accessible as well as instructive1 in consequence of the comparative smallness of the mountains1 and isolated position into which they are thrown4 ,a magnificent amphitheater of hill and plain is spread out before the traveler1 through which the ,dee1 after a course of upward of twenty miles from its wells--mysterious as the fountains of the ,nile--rolls its waters1 now joined by the ,quioch1 ,clunie1 ,candlie1 and all the tributaries of the surrounding peaks4 ,some of the hills present bare precipitous cliffs1 as ,craig ,koynach and the ,lion's ,face1 where the granite1 schistose1 and calcareous rocks are finely exposed to view4 ,their strike is continued westward1 when they are severally crossed in the easy ascent of ,morne1 half of whose dome-shaped top is covered with quartz-rock1 which here1 as in most of the neighboring heights1 attains to an enormous thickness1 and shows in weathering the yellow granular texture of sandstone4 ,so remarkably like are some specimens we picked up by the roadside1 that for a time we imagined ourselves to be approaching a region of secondary deposits4 ,internally1 however1 the bright crystalline structure is uninvaded by decay4 ,ben-,beck1 ,cairn-a-drochel1 and ,ben-,viach behind ,mar ,lodge1 are chiefly composed of gneiss1 passing into a slaty micaceous schist4 ,the same character of rock continues upward through ,glen-lui until its junction with ,glen-lui-beg and ,glen-derry1 where the granite maintains its sovereignty over all that primitive lofty region4 ,the geologist1 in penetrating these primeval wilds1 has but little choice left him as to the comforts of his pathway4 ,arrived at the top of ,glen-lui1 the two diverging passes1 right and left1 are equally desolate1 savage1 and grand4 ,he may make his selection as the feeling of the moment prompts1 but he will not be able to congratulate himself as the traveler in a different field-- ,hic locus est1 partes ubi se via fundit in ambas3 ,dextera1 qu ditis magni sub mnia tendit2 ,hac iter ,elysium nobis3 ut lva malorum ,exercet pnas1 et ad impia ,tartara mittit4 ,no 8fiends10 indeed1 as ,dryden renders it1 are here1 unless the belated traveler may allow his fancy to shape these gnarled withered stumps of the old forest1 as it well may1 into grisly living forms2 or the red deer breaking from their coverts1 and gazing in wild amazement from the crags1 startle him from his propriety4 ,still ,loch ,avon1 black as pitch1 and imbosomed in horrid rocks1 is not an unfitting emblem of the ,tartarean lake4 ,pursuing his route to ,strathspey1 either through the desolate openings of ,ben-,avon1 or by the wild passes of ,brae-,riach and ,cairn-gorm1 the geologist again drops down among the gneiss1 schists1 limestone1 and quartz4 ,these types of rock line the trough of the ,spey1 on both sides1 as far as the granite district of ,ericht and ,laggan1 presenting the usual phenomena of granitic and feldspathic dykes1 and in some places1 as at ,loch-an-,eilan1 remarkable twistings and flexures in the mica-schist around this eagle-haunted lake4 ,glen ,tilt1 on the south-west1 is distinguished by a singular display of granitic veins1 appearing to radiate from a common center--the well-known phenomena which the philosophers of the ,hutton and ,playfair school pressed so keenly and successfully into the service of their theory4 ,the gneiss is generally to be observed in the form of low ridges1 interstratified with quartz-rock1 and approaching in mineral qualities to the mica-slate4 ,the bearing of all these stratified rocks is1 on the main1 sufficiently indicated by the outline of the ,grampian range4 ,the quartz1 mica1 and chlorite slates1 are nearly continuous along the chain1 traversing in a ,s4 ,w4 by ,n4 ,e4 direction the breadth of the island1 from sea to sea4 ,the line of strike1 however1 is often interrupted1 either by the eruptive veins above mentioned1 or by the upheaval of the central axis1 which1 as it rose with greater violence1 or was parted into higher and unequal ridges1 would necessarily occasion corresponding changes in the lie and direction of their coverings4 ,this principle in geological dynamics has been satisfactorily established by ,mr4 ,hopkins of ,cambridge1 who has shown1 that in the production of any great line of elevatory disturbance1 whether affecting straight1 curvilinear1 or ellipsoidal masses1 the strata would frequently be broken by fissures at various angles to the chief line of strain or elevation4 ,hence these interminable glens1 transverse straths1 cul-de-sacs1 and countless depressions1 forming tarns and lochs1 all inosculating into each other1 and which give such variety and grandeur to this alpine region4 ,the pent up ebullient matter beneath the crust would thereby force its way to the surface--now in the form of veins--now in long narrow ridges--and in other quarters assuming the contour of broad mountain domes4 ,the dip1 in like manner1 corresponding to these partial strikes1 as well as great axis of the chain1 is often various--as at the ,linn of ,dee1 and along the braes of ,corry ,mulzie1 the beds being almost horizontal1 while generally they are so highly inclined as to be nearly vertical4 ,there are also numerous examples where the crystalline strata dip inward toward the granite ridges1 and in this manner form an acute angle with the base1 instead of being infolded over and welded to them4 ,the only admissible explanation in these instances of the dip is1 that the ends of the strata adjacent to the eruptive masses have sunk into depressions occasioned by the evolution of igneous matter1 while their upper edges have been tilted backward4 ,hence the schists often rise into independent elevated crests all along the chain1 and even where no granite appears at the surface4 ,the rocks in ,glen-,beg and ,glen-,clunie afford examples of this kind1 where1 as in ,cairn-na-well1 and the other mountains here1 they are highly inclined1 and plunge in the direction of the principal range4 ,geology1 viewed in this light1 becomes an auxiliary to physical geography1 explains many anomalous appearances on the earth's surface1 and successfully accounts for all the flexures1 breaks1 undulations1 and inequalities1 that constitute such marked features in the primary strata4 ,until very recently1 the doctrine maintained was1 that nearly all the inequalities on the earth's surface were produced by the erosive and denuding effects of water2 that not merely the small lateral valleys and branches of rivers1 but likewise all their main trunks1 were caused by the slow and gradual working of the stream1 cutting the most solid and massive rocks in the same way and almost with the same instrument by which the lapidary divides a block of marble or granite4 ,nay1 with such a ready agent1 acting through incalculably remote and indefinite periods of time1 the conclusion was arrived at1 that 8on our continents there is no spot on which a river may not formerly have run40 ,a sounder philosophy1 and one far more accordant with the facts1 is now beginning to prevail1 namely1 that nearly all transverse gorges1 by which rivers escape across ridges from one water basin to another1 are nothing more than ancient apertures in the crust of the earth1 which have resulted from the former disruption and denudation of the rocks3 and that rivers1 properly so called1 have never cut sections through chains1 but simply flow in chasms prepared for them4 ,,nature ,,and ,,qualities ,,of ,,the ,,rocks4--,the granite is the most prevailing1 as well as the most striking in its appearance and texture1 in the whole range4 ,mineralogically considered1 every specimen is a gem4 ,granite is a compound1 aggregate rock1 here of a lively flesh or rose color1 consisting of perfectly formed crystals of quartz1 feldspar1 mica1 and in some instances hornblende1 when it merges into what is termed syenite4 ,the sparkling film is mica4 ,it is not metallic2 but it shines with metallic luster2 and in some places of the chain1 as at ,rothes on the ,spey side1 it is found in plates so large as to become a substitute for glass4 ,the component parts of mica are silex1 alumine1 potash1 iron1 manganese1 and traces of other substances4 ,the colors of the mineral are various1 according to the proportions of some of the ingredients4 ,the lamin are divisible into plates no thicker than #a_/cjj1jjjth part of an inch4 ,entering into the composition of almost every rock from the oldest to the newest1 it abounds chiefly in granite and schist1 but also occurs in sandstones1 and the slaty shales of the coal formation4 ,i never look at a piece of granite1 fragments of which are strewed on every heath1 without being reminded of ,paley's inaccurate and disparaging comparison betwixt 8the stone0 and 8the watch10 in his celebrated argument for the existence of ,deity4 ,take a specimen fresh and living from the rock1 or from any bowlder that meets you on the way4 ,there is not a stain in all that composite mass3 how bright every ingredient6 ,no workmanship of man can rival it in its closeness of texture1 beauty of color1 distinctness and delicacy of shading and outline4 ,what chemistry elaborated these particles as they separated and united8 ,what scales weighed their impalpable elements8 ,what hands constructed their nicely harmonizing proportions8 ,whence derived their principle of cohesion as they cooled and inosculated in the burning crucible8 ,as that fragment of rock1 so is the whole interior of the mighty range--the whole basis of the continents of the world--countless myriads of sparkling gems wrought into symmetry and form2 the foundations of our earthly habitation literally 8garnished with all manner of precious stones40 ,paley1 forgetful of every law or purpose so conspicuously developed in the whole of these beautiful arrangements1 thus commences his great work on ,natural ,theology3--8,in crossing a heath1 suppose ,i pitched my foot against a stone1 and were asked how the stone came to be there1 ,i might possibly answer1 that1 for anything ,i knew to the contrary1 it had lain there forever3 nor would it perhaps be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer4 ,but1 suppose ,i had found a watch upon the ground1 and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place1 ,i should hardly think of the answer which ,i had before given1 that for anything ,i knew1 the watch might have always been there40 ,how many fallacies are there in this statement so far as mention is made of the stone8 ,the science of geognosie1 not so far advanced in ,paley's time1 now clearly establishes the 8absurdity0 of supposing its having lain from 8eternity0 in the place where it is found4 ,the relative ages of mountains1 and therefore their succession in ,time1 are now demonstrable and well understood4 ,then1 the component parts of the mineral are as well defined1 as accurately proportioned1 and arranged in manner and order as precisely1 as the several parts of the watch4 ,the mica1 the quartz1 the feldspar1 have each their law or order of structure1 as well as their principle of aggregation2 and they have taken their respective forms and no other1 and have assumed their compound structure and no other1 in obedience to chemical affinities and an atomic adjustment1 as certain and unalterable as are the conditions and requirements of dynamics4 ,nay1 more1 the parent rock1 from which that stone was taken1 has its own place in the system2 its position1 amidst the upheaved disrupted strata around1 has been assumed for a purpose2 and the very size1 form1 and outline of the giant mass1 are all shaped to an end4 ,rocks are as easily distinguished as trees or animals1 which have not risen up by accident1 but have been constructed out of certain materials1 and arranged each according to its own class4 ,their internal characters1 and even outward shape1 are marked and defined4 ,the gnarled oak in fiber and texture differs not more from the soft1 pendulous1 graceful willow1 than are the differences of rocks and minerals in their normal arrangement of particles2 in their diversity of fracture1 cleavage1 luster1 and density4 ,we see at once the mechanism of the watch1 the growth and expansion of plants and animals4 ,but so1 upon gaining the least knowledge of its frame-work and structure1 we cannot open our eyes upon any part of the external world1 without being impressed with the conviction1 that all which we see and admire1 must be the work of a higher power4 ,design is stamped upon everything4 ,will1 order1 and might are everywhere visible4--,geology1 discovering harmony amidst apparent confusion1 renovation in decay1 shows that every rock is fitted to its place2 that systems and series of formations are arranged upon a principle of utility2 and so thoroughly calculated to exercise their assigned functions have all the parts been formed1 that the most elaborate machinery of man's contrivance falls infinitely short of the beauty and perfection everywhere displayed in the material creation4 ,lain forever6 ,no2 such a scene of mountain1 valley1 river1 plain1 and ocean--all related to each other--does not exist by chance1 is not conserved nor arranged by accident4 ,,theory ,,of ,,formation4--,when we examine a piece of granite1 nothing appears less likely1 to a common observer1 than that it was once in a molten state through the action of fire1 and that its crystalline structure was assumed in process of cooling4 ,now1 the fact of its crystallization1 the beautiful and perfect arrangement of its parts1 the impress of the one crystal upon the other reciprocally communicating their respective shapes to each other1 and the compact1 agglutinated state of the whole1 is regarded as the strongest proof of the igneous origin of this remarkable rock4 ,granite is not a mere congeries of parts1 which1 after being separately formed1 was somehow brought together and united2 but it is certain that the quartz1 at least1 was fluid when it was molded on the feldspar4 ,in some granites1 the impressions of the substances on one another are observed in a different order1 and the quartz gives its form to the feldspar4 ,the ingredients of granite were therefore fluid when mixed2 and this fluidity was not the effect of solution in a menstruum1 as in that case one kind of crystal does not impress another1 but each retains its own peculiar shape2 and the conclusion is1 that they crystallized from a state of simple fluidity1 such as1 of all known causes1 heat alone is able to produce4 ,this is the account given in the ,huttonian theory1 as expressed nearly in the words of ,playfair1 which1 along with the position of veins1 the disruption of superincumbent strata1 and other phenomena1 has resulted in the universally received admission of the ,plutonic character of this class of rocks4 ,dr4 ,macculloch has extended the principle1 and has satisfactorily proved1 that granite is but one term in the series of igneous products1 the passages from which are distinctly traceable into granitoid syenite1 and syenitic greenstone1 and thence into greenstone1 basalt1 and lava4 ,professor ,forchhammer considers granite1 when melted1 as one simple compound1 and which only on cooling becomes separated into the different minerals that compose it4 ,granite1 wherever it is found1 is inferior to every other rock2 and as it composes many of the greatest mountain chains1 it has the pre-eminence of being elevated the highest into the atmosphere and sunk the deepest under the surface1 of all the mineral constituents of the globe to which our researches extend4 ,the associated primary rocks in this upland region overlie the granite1 and possess a distinctly stratified structure4 ,they are not now in their original position4 ,they have been tilted up1 traversed1 and interlaced by the granite while in fusion1 and have been altered greatly in their texture and qualities by their contact with the heated mass4 ,hence they are called ,,metamorphic ,,rocks1 because of the change to which they have been subjected4 ,the rocks that immediately overlie the granite are gneiss1 mica-slate1 quartz-rock1 and limestone4 ,they all partake of the crystalline structure1 and all1 except the last1 possess the same ingredients1 and assume interchangeably the same aspect4 ,of gneiss there are three varieties1 each composed of feldspar1 quartz1 and mica1 and distinguished by the size and form of the crystals that constitute the mass4 ,this rock1 consisting in all cases of thin lenticular plates1 has a ribbon-like appearance1 and1 according to the predominance of one of the parts1 becomes glandular1 slaty1 or aggregate4 ,mica-slate consists of quartz and mica--the latter predominating--and feldspar frequently entering as an adjunct4 ,quartz-rock1 as the term implies1 is formed of the pure siliceous matter1 nearly homogeneous in many instances--but scales of mica are often present--and feldspar not always absent4 ,the limestone1 again1 differs from all the above in the excess of the calcareous element1 while1 along with talc1 steatite1 actynolite1 asbestus1 and other simple minerals1 mica1 quartz1 and feldspar are likewise to be numbered among the imbedded crystals4 ,these rocks1 over the entire surface of the globe1 are of one family1 and generally associated4 ,they are always the lowest of the stratified series1 and follow in the order now described4 ,they are essentially one and the same in their constituent mineral qualities--different in the form and proportions in which they are aggregated--and geographically connected with the granite in their distribution4 ,thus these crystalline rocks not only constitute the floor of our earth1 but have in all probability supplied the materials under whose plutonic agency1 when fused and molten1 the massive pavement was raised above the waters and tempered into its present consistency4 ,granite1 the derivative rock1 is found1 accordingly1 in every region of the globe--the lowest as well as the most universally distributed--the basis as well as the apex of every great mountain chain4 ,no true ,highland scenery is anywhere to be found that does not embrace granite as the most prominent feature in the picture4 ,not a hill in ,scotland1 two thousand feet high1 but incloses a portion of this rock4 ,the beauties of the ,english lake country are all derived from this source4 ,the lofty serrated peaks of ,wales have been raised upon its crystal foundations4 ,the north-west and central portions of ,france1 the ,swiss and ,tyrolese ,alps1 the vast expanse betwixt ,dresden and ,vienna1 the ,caucasus1 great part of the ,himalayan1 ,uralian1 and ,altai mountains1 and large elevated districts in ,china1 are all less or more of granite formation4 ,through ,northern ,russia and ,scandinavia the granite may be regarded as merely a continuation of our ,scottish range--one great stony girdle1 which forms the primary mineral boundary of ,northern ,europe4 ,america1 ,africa1 ,australia1 possess not a single ridge of celebrity through which the same fundamental rock is not traceable in every district4 ,how simple1 uniform1 universal the component elements of the globe6 ,one and the same atmosphere surrounds it1 one ocean washes it1 one system of massive pillars supports it1 one sun enlightens it4 ,how direct and irresistible the inference1 that one intelligent1 all-powerful ,being fashioned and framed it6 ,the separation of the dry land from the waters was1 doubtless1 effected through the instrumentality of means4 ,the igneous theory of granite1 and other amorphous rocks1 is in accordance with this supposition1 which thereby imparts a sacred and peculiar interest to all our investigations respecting the origin and elevation of mountains4 ,the range of geological investigation is thus wide as the circumference of the globe--deep as the foundations of the earth--and sublime thoughts are everywhere awakened of ,him-- ,whose dwelling is the light of setting suns1 ,and the round ocean1 and the living air1 ,and the blue sky1 and in the mind of man3 ,a motion and a spirit that impels ,all thinking things1 all objects of all thought1 ,and rolls through all things6 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,silurian ,,system4 ,,first ,,traces ,,of ,,life4 ,the group of rocks on which we next enter are termed fossiliferous1 that is1 there is contained in their hard stony substance the impressions and actual remains of organic bodies4 ,as we proceed upward through the series in their ascending order1 we will find different rocks distinguished by different classes of fossils1 and characterized by distinct lithological appearances4 ,they are in consequence divided into different formations1 and called by particular names4 ,hence the origin of ,,systems1 of which there are five or six recognized by geologists1 separable into their respective groups of strata4 ,descending from the primary1 the highest as well as lowest in the series of rocky combinations1 the group which first invites attention is the ,,silurian2 so denominated because the strata are widely spread over the districts in ,england and ,wales1 anciently inhabited by a people called the 8,silures40 ,they are found in various quarters of the world1 and occupy a large area on the southern frontiers of ,scotland4 ,the rocks of this class consist of a group of argillaceous1 calcareous1 and arenaceous deposits1 varying in color and texture4 ,they are of great thickness and severally impressed with their own written story1 the fossil memoranda of the changes and events that occurred betwixt the formation of each4 ,these are the transition rocks of ,werner4 ,the newly-adopted term of ,silurian implies no peculiar theory as to their origin4 ,it simply expresses the fact that in the district in question a complete succession of fossiliferous strata is interpolated between the oldest slaty crystalline rocks and the old red sandstone4 ,the system is divided by their discoverer and historian1 ,sir ,r4 ,i4 ,murchison1 under the ascending series1 into the ,cambrian ,system1 ,llandeilo-flags1 ,caradoc ,sandstone1 ,wenlock ,shales and ,limestones1 and ,lower and ,upper ,ludlow ,rocks4 ,do the equivalents of all1 or of any1 of these groups exist in the ,grampian range8 ,geologists for the most part have been answering these questions in the negative4 ,hitherto no true silurian deposits have been recognized as existing among the northern ,scottish mountains1 and no well-authenticated organism of the system has been detected in any of their localities4 ,this1 however1 will hardly be taken as a conclusive argument after the admission into the family of the ,skiddaw slate1 in which the faintest traces of organized matter have only very recently been observed1 while the over-lying series consisting of chlorite-slate1 and alternating beds of porphyry and greenstone1 from twenty to thirty thousand feet thick1 have not yet been proved to contain a single fossil4 8,good fossil groups10 ,professor ,sedgwick argues1 8are the foundation of all geology2 and are out of all comparison the most remarkable monuments of the past physical history of our globe1 so far as it is made out in any separate physical region40 ,we are convinced that the clayslates and graywackes which repose on the southern flank of the ,grampians1 as well as abundantly in the interior1 will1 upon strict examination1 have their place assigned among the ,silurian class4 ,mr4 ,nicol1 who has done so much for the ,lammermuir deposits1 will find ample scope for his investigations1 and all his ingenious speculations1 in determining the true position of these argillaceous beds1 which are of prodigious thickness and vast extent4 ,this is not the place to enter into details1 but in support of the view now advanced1 the following among other reasons may be given4 ,first of all1 the clayslate of the ,grampians resembles in its lithology the slates of ,wales and ,cumberland1 admitted to be silurian4 ,in hand specimens they cannot easily be distinguished from each other3 practical men consider the slates of ,dunkeld and ,glenalmond as softer and less flinty than those of the south4 ,they pass from extremely coarse into the finest grained varieties1 when the graywacke character is entirely lost in the homogeneous mass4 ,their position in reference to the crystalline rocks1 in the next place1 is very distinct1 never alternating with1 nor lying conformable to1 either the gneiss or mica-schists4 ,they form the outer zone1 from east to west1 of the ,grampian range1 where feldspar1 porphyries1 and trappean rocks are along the whole line mixed up or associated with them4 ,then overlying the clayslate1 precisely as in ,cumberland1 the old red sandstone is found in immediate succession and resting unconformably4 ,shall we add that1 even in a topographical point of view1 these beds will be admitted to vindicate their claim to ,silurian origin1 constituting1 as they do1 in extension1 a portion of the great primary belt that encompasses the western shores of ,great ,britain1 and beyond the channel1 stretches through ,brittany and ,normandy8 ,from considerations such as these there are sufficient grounds1 we think1 for constituting the clayslates and porphyries of the ,grampians into a 8physical group10 existing in a 8separate physical region40 ,the absence of organic remains may be accounted for by the fact of the vast disturbance prevailing in the seas at the period1 and indicated by the prodigious quantity of igneous matter spread repeatedly over their bottom4 ,these causes would act in so far in preventing the existence and increase of living things1 over all these parts1 and most certainly in obliterating the traces of their remains1 if any were deposited4 ,but as future explorers may yet detect them in abundance we proceed to consider the nature and classes of fossils elsewhere discovered in the ,silurian strata4 ,,animal ,,remains4 ,here1 in this series of rocks1 we are carried back to the beginning of life upon the globe1 in which we see the very dawn and commencement of earthly enjoyment1 the first forms and races of creatures which were privileged to eat at the banquet of creation4 ,as matter of history1 therefore1 nothing can be more interesting2 as a subject of mere curiosity concerning ancient relics1 the most ardent archologist will be amply gratified2 and as showing the manner of the divine actings in replenishing the earth with living things1 the word and the works of ,deity are again to the devout inquiring mind brought into pleasing harmonious comparison4 ,we find that the creatures belonging to this first epoch of organic existence are1 generally1 low in the scale of animated being4 ,the rocks in which their remains are imbedded are1 in some instances almost entirely composed of organic matter1 showing that life at first was not bestowed sparingly1 or1 through some hidden mysterious processes1 stealthily introduced upon the stage2 it rather appears in an abundance and variety1 speaking of a purpose in obedience to a designing creative act4 ,as suitable to the condition of the planet1 not at once but by successive arrangements brought into a state of adaptation for sustaining life1 the animals now formed appear to have been chiefly of the invertebrate division1 that is1 animals of comparatively simple structure1 destitute of a bony skeleton1 suited to live in shallow waters and muddy bottoms1 and to be content with such fare as an infant state of things over the young earth could produce4 ,among these ancient families are graptolites1--many of them zoophytic bodies1 allied to the modern sea-pen2 crinoids1 or lily-shaped animals1 of beautifully-developed forms2 and trilobites1 crustacean creatures divided into three dorsal lobes4 ,there are several species of each4 ,and so accurately has nature adhered to her plan of operations1 that we find the corals of that early age doing the same offices1 and piling up similar submarine reefs1 by which these busy little architects are still distinguished4 ,the mollusca of the period are very numerous1 embracing almost every order and form of shell that are found in our present seas1 though wholly of different species2 conchifera1 brachiopoda1 gasteropoda1 cephalopoda1 pteropoda1 beside the heteropoda1 of which there are no existing analogues4 ,the habits of all these orders must have been nearly the same as those of our modern types4 ,the cephalopoda1 embracing the nautilus and orthoceras tribes1 were then as they are now1 the tyrants of the deep1 furnished with eyes and ears1 and armed with powers that enabled them to roam and prey at will in the bays and estuaries of the primeval world4 ,there have been named and catalogued of these first forms of the moving creatures of the deep about three hundred and fifty distinct species4 ,but1 beside these1 there have been discovered in the silurian rocks six or seven genera1 involving a still greater number of species1 of fishes of the order of the ,placoids1 so denominated from the broad scales or plates with which they are covered4 ,the probability is1 that more of these higher organisms will yet be brought to light1 as all the strata of the system consist of marine deposits1 and only the most limited sections have anywhere been explored4 ,they constitute the lowest of the fossiliferous beds2 are generally found1 except in ,russia1 in a vertical or highly inclined position1 and consequently but little of their superficial area is exposed4 ,here1 however1 geologists have named and described an ,onchus ,murchisoni1 a ,thelodus parvidens1 and other four genera of equally erudite-sounding names4 ,the onchus type is continued1 and greatly multiplied in species1 in the two succeeding formations1 when it dies out1 or at least no trace of the genus is found in later times2 while the rest appear to come and to depart within their own geological epoch4 ,these organisms are all as yet termed ,ichthyolites1 that is1 simply fossil fragments of fish1 as no entire animal has been anywhere detected1 while of their true class ,m4 ,agassiz affirms with confidence4 ,teeth1 fins1 spines1 occur so abundantly in a stratum of the ,upper ,ludlow series in ,wales as now to be termed 8the bone-bed10 giving assurance that the seas were thus early stocked with the finny tribes4 ,the families of most of these fishes have yet to be determined4 ,but nature1 though in her operations 8simpler than man's wit would make her10 was still pretending enough to be shaping out thus early the higher types of life4 ,the science which introduces to such sights and studies1 occupies no mean place among the various branches of human inquiry4 ,to neglect to decipher what is so indelibly recorded on these pages of creation1 is willfully to shut oneself out from what has been actually preserved for information--a voice from the past1 which speaks in the same distinct articulate language as the present of the fiat of ,omnipotence4 ,no object is mean or contemptible which divine wisdom has formed1 and no subject is unworthy of investigation which illustrates ,his ways and works during any period of creation4 ,the mind1 at this starting point of life1 is curious to know what amount of information can be obtained as to the organic structure and specific characters of these first denizens of earth1 so as to compare them with the forms and species of the analogous families now existing4 ,the information derived from this first chapter in palontology1 we believe is1 that the earliest specimens of organization are as perfect as the latest1 each after its kind2 and that1 in these morning-days of existence1 nature at once stamped1 with her plastic hand1 her lineaments of beauty and adaptation on everything she made4 ,there is nothing omitted to be afterward supplied--nothing formed defective in a single part or organ that requires to be corrected4 ,the first discoveries in geology at once speak conclusively of a plan or course of creation derived from the beginning--a power1 not delegated1 but linked forever with the first intelligent cause--a world1 through all its changes1 continually presided over and ruled by ,him who made it4 ,,vegetable ,,remains were long wanting1 and sought for in vain1 to complete during this period the picture of the ancient world1 as described in the pages of revelation4 ,geology1 indeed1 had everywhere sternly held back the required evidence1 and animals were announced to be the first of living things4 ,this1 though contrary to all analogy with regard to the conditions of animal subsistence1 was generally received as a well established dogma2 and the earliest book of history was laid aside1 or its statements in these circumstances regarded as irrelevant4 ,vegetable remains1 however1 have been detected in the oldest fossiliferous group of rocks1 and this apparent discrepancy has been forevermore disproved4 ,fucoid plants are found in great abundance in the transition series of ,scandinavia as well as in the silurian strata of our own island4 ,that they are not more widely distributed is satisfactorily accounted for by experiments which show that some species of plants entirely disappear in water4 ,a productive flora1 therefore1 may have existed from the earliest period1 but1 unable to resist decomposition1 all traces thereof have long disappeared from the tablets of the earth4 ,nay1 so abundant in some quarters of the globe has vegetable matter been at this period1 that there are traces of beds1 approximating to coal1 entirely composed of it1 and the rocks inclosing these beds so charged with bitumen and carbon as to be used as fuel4 8,the silurian strata of the ,scandinavian peninsula and the ,island of ,bornholm1 contain10 says ,professor ,forchhammer1 8in their oldest parts1 large beds of aluminous slate1 which is used in a great number of manufactories for making alum2 and this aluminous slate has the great advantage over those slates of the carboniferous system of ,germany and a part of ,france1 that it contains the sufficient quantity of potash which is required to make alum40 ,it is well known that potash constitutes an ingredient in most vegetable bodies2 and that when a plant is burned there remains a skeleton of this substance4 ,hence1 possibly1 the origin of the potash in the alum slate4 ,but the argument does not rest upon inference4 ,the same authority relates1 that in ,bornholm and in ,scania1 the southernmost part of ,sweden1 this slate contains a great number of impressions of a fucoidal plant1 of which ,liebmann has given minute botanical descriptions4 ,then1 pursuing his interesting tale of this first flora of creation1 he says1--8,according to ,professor ,keilhau1 ,professor ,bock1 and ,m4 ,esmark1 the same ceramites occurs frequently in the aluminous silurian slate of ,southern ,norway4 ,recently ,m4 ,hisinger has figured an imperfect specimen of it from ,berg1 in the province of ,ostergothland1 in ,sweden4 ,thus this fucus appears to be characteristic of the alum slate of ,scandinavia3 and ,i can scarcely doubt that the most characteristic properties of the alum slate1 as depending upon its carbon1 its sulphur1 and its potash1 are derived from the great quantity of sea-weed which has been mixed up with the clay1 and whose carbonaceous matter so affects the whole rock1 that the slate is used as fuel for boiling the aluminous liquor1 and burning lime2 and in some parts of the province of ,westergothland in ,sweden1 even small courses of true coal occur4 ,there can hardly remain any doubt that this coal is derived from sea-weeds1 of which fossil parts have been found1 for not the slightest trace of land plants has ever been discovered40 ,these are instructive facts1 yet greatly to be extended1 when1 we question not1 the land will also contribute of its flora to complete our knowledge of the most ancient fossiliferous strata4--,but recently1 bands of true coal have been discovered completely inclosed in this group of rocks near ,oporto1 the town of which stands on a ridge of granite1 four or five miles wide1 with mica-slate and gneiss resting on both sides4 ,to the eastward1 these again are overlaid by sedimentary rocks1 chiefly clayslate2 which1 commencing on the coast about thirty miles north of ,oporto1 run down and cross the ,douro1 about sixteen miles above that town4--,to the south of ,vallango1 the strata overlie a deposit of anthracite in several beds1 some of them from four to six feet thick4--,this coal is now worked in several pits1 and principally sent to ,oporto4 ,along with it are beds of red sandstone and black carbonaceous slates1 with vegetable impressions too indistinct to be determined1 but strongly resembling ferns of the coal measures4 ,in the shales above this coal ,mr4 ,sharpe1 the discoverer1 found many fossils1 as orthides1 trilobites1 and graptolites1 most of them new species1 but others well known in the lower silurian rocks of ,northern ,europe4 ,it would thus appear that the coal deposits of ,oporto are included in the silurian formation1 and are far below the usual level of the coal4 ,we cannot overvalue the theoretic importance of these discoveries1 which do not indeed bring to light any exuberant variety of the vegetable tribes1 such as the earth afterward threw out of her affluent bosom4 ,but they mark sufficiently the period when plants1 according to the geological reading of the history1 first make their appearance on these lithological pages3 fucoids and alg are there in abundance1 to give the vegetable portion of the narrative1 as trilobites and molluscs form unquestionably the predominating features of the animal department4 ,the coal-beds of ,oporto--should their position turn out to be truly defined--show the dawning of a terrestrial flora1 not sparingly but luxuriantly developed3 and thus the silurian period may be regarded throughout as sufficiently characterized by well-marked types of vegetation1 more doubtful in the higher forms1 but determinate in the acotyledonous and cryptogamic tribes which prevail indifferently from the lower to the upper beds of the system4 ,nor do we require to overstrain the statement1 by questioning nature or revelation as to the species1 genera1 orders1 and classes of vegetables referred to in their respective pages4 ,they are coincident as to the great truth itself1 that ,,plants did exist in the earliest 8days0 of the earth's history4 ,as a science1 nothing is taught in the ,sacred ,record4 ,none of the technicalities of physical inquiry are employed4 ,but a beautiful progression1 and elimination of one thing after another1 are intimated4 ,the light is separated from the darkness4 ,a firmament is set in the midst of the waters4 ,the first plant that burst from the soil had thus every element provided which its nature and habits required--the light1 to which it turns and ever yearns after--the air1 in which to perform its respiratory functions--the water1 from which to secrete the juices of circulation--and a dry land1 out of which to elaborate materials for its structure4 ,this is a ,wisdom which is above all philosophy1 instructing in the elements and principles of things1 long before botanical arrangements were dreamed of1 or 8bushy dell0 there was1 where 8hoary-headed frosts ,fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose40 ,the silurian group of rocks is very widely extended1 as in ,britain1 ,france1 ,russia1 the north-west of ,asia2 in ,south ,africa1 ,north and ,south ,america1 the ,falkland ,islands1 and ,australia4 ,the most ancient physical features of the ,old ,world can almost be recalled1 as we thus trace the outline of the deposit1 marking out1 by its geographical distribution1 the primary islands and mountain peaks of the aboriginal land4 ,how changed the very face of things--continuity between states and kingdoms where seas now roll--and all the great continents occupying the sites over which the waters held unbounded sway6 ,illustration3 ,trilobites of the ,silurian ,system4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,devonian ,,system1 ,,or ,,old ,,red ,,sandstone4 ,a geologist requires not1 like the tourist1 to be told of the various conflicting roads that run among the mountains1 in what precise course he is to wend his way4 ,he will follow his own pathways1 roads of nature's forming1 guided by the strike and lie of the rocks rather than by the beaten tracks of every-day life4 ,but come whither he will--through ,glentilt1 ,glenericht1 ,glenbeg1 and the ,spittal1 ,glenisla1 and ,clova1--or along the ,dee1 the heights of ,glentanner1 and penetrating to the sources of the ,esks--sure we are1 when he reaches by any of those passes the frontiers of the ,grampians1 he will pause and gaze wistfully1 thoughtfully1 admiringly1 ere he descends1 upon the magnificent prospect that stretches before him1 unrivaled by any on the terraqueous globe4 ,the ,,gran-,,pen1 celtic1 the shelvy or precipitous summit1 ,romanized into ,grampius1 has its own inner charms1 peaceful rock-girt valleys where princes dwell1 and happy as ,rasselas ever trod4--,and escaped from these1 what an outer world beneath1 fertile1 abundant1 replete with everything that can charm the eye or interest the student4 ,looming in the far distance1 the ,lammermuirs1 of silurian origin1 can just be descried as a dark-blue line on the verge of the horizon2 the ,ochils and ,lomonds1 of carboniferous age1 repose like islets on the pendant sky2 while1 in the foreground of the picture1 there is the most charming variety of woodland1 meadow1 farmstead1 town1 and mansion1 all as ,i now gaze upon them in their autumn coloring1 invested with a ,claud-like mellowness that speaks with a moral yet romantic sympathy to the heart4 ,the round tower of ,brechin1 the moldering walls of ,edzell1 the frowning battlements of ,glammis1 the worn-out and now verdant ramparts of ,dunsinane1 have each their crowds of visitants1 and are all within the compass of a single day's journey4 ,the eye of the geologist is in search of another object as it wanders over that lovely scene3 ,kinnordie1 the birth-place of ,sir ,charles ,lyell1 must ever be classic ground in the history of our science4 ,it rests on the old red sandstone1 and furnishes some of the most valuable illustrations in ,sir ,charles's early sketches4 ,what influences1 may we here ask1 gave being and shape to the ingenious and splendid generalizations of this accomplished geologist8 ,is it too much to assume that the philosopher1 as well as the poet1 is all his life-long captive to first impressions1 that the scenes of his boyhood claim 8a local habitation0 for many of his future speculations1 and that his most matured trains of thinking have been dependent upon casual circumstances8 ,born and educated in the shadow of the ,grampians1 who can doubt that the spirit within was early stirred to lofty views as he gazed upon their elevated forms1 and wondered how their peaks rose so high in air1 and were thus lifted above the valleys8 ,may it not be presumed1 though the philosopher himself may have no recollection of the matter1 that his speculations regarding the alternate elevation and depression of land and sea had its germ in some such happy moment of mountain inspiration8 ,byron owned the influence in all its power1 when1 in the rocky defiles and dark pine forests of ,lochnagar1 he had early communings with spiritual beings1 the wreathe-forms and kelpies of the streams2 and in visions imparted amidst the wilds of the ,dee1 prepared his mind for the daring flights of the ,alps4 ,the geologist had here all the materials of after-thought1 which in his various essays and works he has so skillfully expanded--from his explorations of ,bakie-loch with its alluvions1 peat1 marl1 shells1 and horns1 in which he had the type of some of his ,alpine tertiaries--the old canoe and ripple-mark here too1 the representatives of their far-sundered ages and onward to his bold speculations on the elevatory hypothesis1 of which the ,grampians1 as well as ,sidlaws1 supplied him with ample illustrations4 ,the descent from the mountains upon the series of rocks that occupy the plains1 is one not merely of space1 but likewise of time4 ,a geological epoch has vanished1 and a new order of things has been called into existence4 ,this implies a change in the animal as well as in the mineral kingdom4 ,the change may not have been sudden1 but it has been thorough and pervading1 accompanied by circumstances that show a general shift in the sea-bottom1 and causes that have been nearly uniform in their operation over the surface of the globe4 ,the shift in the sea-bottom is detected in the elevation of the silurian group of rocks1 which have been lifted from a horizontal into a highly-inclined position3 in some instances they are nearly vertical2 and in most cases where the igneous rocks occur1 they are bent and twisted1 greatly altered and disrupted1 by the process of upheaval to which they have been subjected4 ,geology notes in this an epoch or age of organic existence4 ,the superjacent series of rocks are seen lying unconformably upon the silurians1 that is1 the older series had been consolidated and upheaved1 and a period of intervening time had elapsed before the deposition of the newer4 ,the fossils imbedded are likewise distinct and peculiar--one and the same over the superficial area of the globe--and thus we learn to mark the great and interesting cosmical changes which had already begun to be effected4 ,we are now among the ,old ,red ,sandstone1 or ,devonian system of rocks1 so denominated from their great development in that district of the sister kingdom4 ,as contrasted with the former system1 the rocks of this period indicate considerable disturbance in the waters of the ocean1 currents and agitations widely prevailing1 and perhaps also deeper seas4 ,the crust of the earth was still rising1 and the mountains becoming higher1 and these effects would necessarily follow4 ,a superior order of animals were introduced4 ,the fishes1 which begin to appear in the upper beds of the silurian group1 are now increased both in numbers and in variety of structures4 ,the invertebrata were the prevailing types of the former age4 ,the old red sandstone is pre-eminently characterized by the vertebrata1 when1 completely adapted to the element to be inhabited1 mailed and plated over with thick horny scales1 huge bony heads1 fins and tails of corresponding strength and size2 the ,sauroid family appear upon the stage1 capable all of buffeting the waves and fulfilling their destiny amid the greatest commotions4 ,the fish of this early period are generally well preserved1 even better than those of the tertiary age1 in consequence of their osseous scales being harder than the bones1 and which1 from their interlocked arrangement1 have contributed to preserve the general form of the body when the inner skeleton has disappeared and every other part and organ have been destroyed4 ,the old red sandstone formation is very extensively distributed in the northern counties1 forming a great belt round the coast from ,caithness-shire to ,aberdeenshire1 and consisting of three well-marked divisions1 the lower1 middle1 and upper series of beds4 ,the strata flank the northern walls of the ,grampians and their out-liers1 traversing the great central or ,caledonian valley for a hundred miles1 and training round the western coast by ,oban1 the shores of ,mull and ,morven4 ,they are of great thickness in many places2 and in some of the beds1 as at ,cromarty1 ,lethen-bar1 and ,gamrie1 contain nearly all the fossils peculiar to the formation4 ,the order of ,ganoid fishes1 which afterward fulfill so distinguished a part in the kingdom of nature1 is wholly absent from the silurian group1 while1 in the ,devonian1 nearly thirty genera1 and considerably above sixty species1 have been described and named4 ,the scales of these creatures would appear to have been richly ornamented1 enameled1 and shining1 and hence the term ,ganoid applied to the order4 ,in the northern districts1 beyond ,ben ,mac-,dhui1 the following genera1 with several species belonging to each1 have been found1 namely1 coccosteus1 cheiracanthus1 cheirolepis1 dipterus1 diplopterus1 diplocanthus1 glyptolepis1 osteolepis1 pterichthys4 ,the principal localities of these fossils are--the ,dipple on the ,spey1 ,tynet ,burn in ,banffshire1 ,seat-,craig near ,elgin1 ,altyre on the ,findhorn1 ,clune1 and ,lethen-bar in ,nairnshire1 ,gamrie1 ,cromarty1 and various places in ,sutherland and ,caithness4 ,shetland is chiefly composed of the old red sandstone1 which yields abundantly the fossils peculiar to the deposit4 ,the formation extends through the ,orkney islands1 inexhaustibly fertile in organic remains1 and among which have been found plates and fragments of the ,asterolepis1 the largest of all the genera belonging to the period3 the head and jaws1 at least1 appear to have been of enormous dimensions1 and portions of the inner skeleton must have been bony1 contrary to the general cartilaginous structure of the class4 ,the ,placoids of the subjacent rocks have many resemblances to the cestracions1 centrin1 and spinaxes of our present seas1 their scales being set like plates at irregular distances over the body4 ,the ,ganoids1 on the other hand1 whose scales were continuous1 and enveloped the entire animal1 have no affinities to any living types4 ,specimens of vegetable organisms are very common in some of the flagstones of ,orkney1 resembling1 in some instances1 the ,lycopodiace1 or club-mosses1 so abundant in the carboniferous strata3 and branching fucoid plants1 of which portions have been found from two to three feet in length1 and of nearly the same diameter of stem throughout4 ,but in tracing the ,,course of ,,creation in this department of her works1 the most important fact to relate is1 the discovery of a coniferous lignite1 imbedded in the old red sandstone of ,cromarty4 ,this interesting relic was obtained from these beds1 several years ago1 by ,mr4 ,miller2 and1 though still of that remote age an instantia solitaria of its kind1 like the foot-print of ,robinson ,crusoe1 it is the sure token of a race that inhabited the island1 and harbinger of a luxuriant flora then waving along the shores of the boundless waters4 ,these northern localities1 on the mainland1 as well as in the islands1 are also remarkable for their shell-beds in this deposit1 while very few of such organisms have yet been detected in any of the ,scottish rocks of the system to the south of the ,grampians4 ,the relics are confined to one species of shell1 resembling in general appearance the form of the ,cyclas1 and are found in various quarries in the district4 ,what a revolution in letters1 knowledge1 and civilization since the days of the ,romans6 ,this1 their ,ultima ,thule6 and a science in the very rocks of which they never even dreamed4 ,proud they were of their fabled origin from the twin boys suckled by the wolves4 ,here are the spoils of ages long anterior to their myths of remotest genealogy--families of creatures that had fulfilled their destiny--buried in the sand1 and upheaved into lofty mountains1 while the ,seven ,hills of their proud city slept beneath the waves4 ,we now proceed to trace the order of the formation southward of the ,grampian chain4 #a4 ,the conglomerate1 a deep red and well-marked deposit1 skirts the base of the mountains1 and in some places is of vast thickness1 betwixt ,stonehaven and ,blairgowrie4 ,this rock is composed of fragments of the primary series1 gneiss1 mica-slate1 quartz1 and porphyry2 the granite constitutes the paste in which these are set and agglutinated together4 ,excellent sections are to be seen in those localities1 where the principal rivers1 the ,north and ,south ,esks1 the ,wast ,water1 the ,isla1 and the ,ericht1 make their passage in debouching upon the plains4 ,in all these defiles the cliffs are precipitous1 and often very picturesque1 their variegated and bright flesh-colored sides forming a pleasing contrast with the dark waters as they eddy into pools1 or dash headlong over their broken ledges4 ,a momentary inspection of this composite rock leaves not the shadow of a doubt upon the mind as to its derivative origin1 while its vicinity to the great chain where its several ingredients are to be found as directly points to the quarry whence it was hewn3 not1 it may be1 slowly accumulating1 as generally asserted1 during the lapse of indefinite periods of time1 but rapidly brought together and consolidated1 as so many of the sharp angular edges of the materials most unequivocally attest4 ,the finer beds that occur in the vicinity would seem to have been the talus or outgoing of the coarser conglomerate1 formed of the minute particles of the same ingredients which had accumulated in the more tranquil hollows of the sea-bottom4 ,the slaty fissile sandstone of ,coventry ,quarry near ,fettercairn 7so remarkably tilted up and welded literally to the igneous dyke71 stretching throughout the north-east and south-west parts of the counties of ,kincardine and ,forfar1 and prevailing over the districts of ,auchtergaven1 ,crieff1 and ,callander1 may be mistaken in many places for the clay-slate itself slightly altered in texture and appearance4 ,these conclusions as to the derivative origin of the conglomerate are fully confirmed and borne out by the fact1 that the deposit is everywhere found precisely where such materials would be collected1 all around the shores of the ,scottish ,highlands1 overlying or fringing the base of the crystalline rocks1 filling up the creeks and bays of the primeval world4 ,after thousands of years the massive blocks of syenite1 chiseled and half-dressed1 are still lying in the quarries of ,upper ,syria1 while the cities for which they were preparing are heaps of ruins in the desert4 ,nature1 left to her own operations1 treasures up the waste occasioned by the elements and other forces1 and by thus raising outworks and buttresses protects her crystal foundations against the inroads of consuming time4 #b4 ,forming an outer zone or rampart1 and overlapping the conglomerate1 a gray fossiliferous sandstone constitutes the next member of the ,devonian group4 ,this deposit is widely extended1 and consists of several beds4 ,one of these is a fine-grained1 compact building stone4 ,another1 the well-known flag-stone1 is of a more slaty texture1 of a dark-blue color1 and abounds in mica4 ,these sandstones occupy a great part of the sea-ward barrier by ,montrose1 ,arbroath1 and the high grounds of ,carmylie4 ,they fold over the ,sidlaws on both acclivities of the range1 where they form a well defined example of what geologists term the anticlinal and synclinal axes1 that is1 the rock curves and reduplicates1 like a soft flexible substance1 according to the undulations of the surface4 ,the several beds cross the ,tay in the direction of ,dundee1 and emerge on the opposite banks at ,wormit-bay1 ,parkhill1 and ,newburgh2 ranging eastward along the northern slope of the ,ochils by ,norman's ,law and the high table-land of ,balmerino4 #c4 ,a limestone rock1 termed ,,cornstone1 from its practical application to grinding purposes in ,england1 occupies a place among the old red sandstone series4 ,this deposit occurs in thin bands of a dull yellowish or blue-colored stone1 containing numerous cherty nodules1 and1 where compact1 is of a sub-crystalline texture4 ,the cornstone generally contains more of silicious than of calcareous matter1 and is consequently not much prized for building or agricultural purposes4 ,in ,scotland no organisms have been as yet detected in it1 but in ,england it yields abundantly remains of the cephalaspis and various crustaceans4 ,this rock is not co-extensive with the other members of the group1 nor do we find it continuous in any part of the district which it occupies4 ,it is generally found in small detached patches1 as at ,glen-,finlay1 ,meigle1 ,cargill1 on the north of the ,sidlaws2 at ,ballendean1 ,rait1 ,meurie1 in the ,carse of ,gowrie2 at ,parkhill1 ,newburgh1 ,clunie1 ,kinnaird1 on the south bank of the ,tay2 and at ,newton and ,craigfoodie1 on the southern face of the ,ochils4 ,at the ,newburgh station of the ,edinburgh and ,northern ,railway the cornstone is inclosed among the eruptive rocks1 partaking of their common induration1 and1 except in its distinct lamination1 cannot be distinguished in color or texture from the traps4 #d4 ,a rock-marl underlies the cornstone in the form of a reddish1 variegated sandstone1 and contains about fifteen per cent4 of lime4 ,deep sections of this calcareo-arenaceous deposit are displayed along the basin of the ,tay1 on both sides1 from the confluence of the ,isla to ,stanley1 at ,pitcairn ,green on the ,almond1 and occupy the ridge from ,methven to ,crieff4 ,a remarkable vein of serpentine skirts the base of the ,grampians in a south-east and north-west direction1 of a beautiful dark olive-green1 in some places of a blue and whitish color1 and at ,cortachie ,bridge1 where it crosses the ,esk1 containing crystals of diallage4 ,this dyke widens in some parts to nearly ninety feet1 of a hard compact texture1 and1 as the marble of the district on the lakes of ,clunie1 it is extensively used for ornamental purposes4 #e4 ,the geologist1 as he pursues his journey by either of the lines of railway that intersect ,forfarshire1 has still many interesting localities and objects before him4 ,traversing 8the fertile plains of ,gowrie0 by the ,perth and ,dundee ,junction1 he enters at ,inchture upon a higher member of the old red sandstone1 a fine-grained yellow-spotted bed4 ,the deposit first appears to the eastward of ,inchture1 in the den of ,balruddery1 where its outcrop is seen immediately to overlie the gray fossiliferous beds4--,the same variety emerges on the opposite bank of the ,tay at ,birkhill2 at ,abernethy1 where it abuts at nearly right angles against the trap in a small ravine to the south of the village2 whence it skirts the base of the ,ochils1 and occupies the center of ,strathearn at ,dumbarnie4 ,the ,clash-bennie sandstone1 doubly interesting from having furnished the first and best specimen of holoptychius1 the type of its age1 may be regarded as an extension of the ,balruddery and ,inchture rock4 ,the beds vary a little in their lithological characters1 as well as in the deep flesh-color predominant in the latter2 still the spherical markings are there1 and1 as their organic remains are identical1 their position in the series may be considered as one and the same4 ,the yellow or upper beds of the old red sandstone fall next to be considered2 but these1 from their geographical limits1 are deferred to the subsequent chapter4 #f4 ,approaching ,perth by the ,midland ,junction1 the geologist cannot fail to be arrested by the vast accumulations of sand and gravel1 which everywhere present themselves1 sometimes in the deep cuttings and railway sections2 sometimes in the shape of rounded hillocks or long narrow ridges2 and at other places as extended plateaux or sea-margins of different elevations4 ,along the whole western and southern slopes that overhang the city1 these objects give a pleasing variety to the landscape1 and form interesting subjects of speculation as to their origin1 doubtless the gathered wreck of all the rocks we have been contemplating2 for after a careful examination of their contents the conclusion cannot be avoided1 that with much of the spoil of the primary rocks1 we have here the detrital waste of the entire old red sandstone series4 ,the ,carpow cutting1 in ,strathearn near ,newburgh1 contains large rounded masses of all the varieties1 with their peculiar ichthyolites2 the gray1 red1 and yellow deposit that prevails in ,fifeshire1 and one solitary patch of which still exists in situ1 near the ,kirk of ,dron1 as if on purpose to mark its ancient and more extended boundaries4 ,nodules and bowlders of the cornstone are likewise abundant4 ,in the vicinity of ,perth1 the waste of the yellow sandstone is to be found1 unmixed in several spots1 consisting of thick beds of fine argillaceous sand4 ,similar masses of gravelly debris are spread over the middle-basin of the ,earn1 from ,forteviot to ,muthil4 ,the ,scottish ,central cleaves its way for ten miles through scarcely any other material4 ,the dreary monotony of these endless hillocks1 around ,auchterarder and ,blackford1 is relieved in part by the fine undulating grassy braes of the ,ochils1 and the richly-wooded rising grounds skirting the left bank of the river4 ,the geologist's eye wanders eastward1 through the district occupied by the lower basin of the ,tay1 where the whole was one great estuary or strait1 and these the shoals covered by the ancient waters4 ,the eastern shores1 from ,wormit-bay to ,leuchars1 are accordingly characterized by vast accumulations of sand and gravel1 originating in the same causes and deposited at the same period4 ,it will excite no surprise1 therefore1 should we remark that the various beds of old red sandstone now so disjoined1 or appearing only as patches1 once covered the greater part of the district traced above1 extending from the ,ochils across the ,sidlaws to the ,grampians4 ,nor can there be difficulty in finding an adequate cause for their up-break1 especially in the upper members of the group4 ,consider not merely the constant waste arising from aqueous abrasion and meteroic influences1 but also the tearing effects occasioned by the convulsive throes and elevatory movements of the ,grampian1 ,sidlaw1 and ,ochil ranges1 either singly1 or1 as it may have happened1 in combination1 when the overlying rocks must have been shattered and broken in every direction1 and rendered capable of easy transportation4 ,although belonging to a posterior geological epoch1 these hillocks of gravel and sand are thus the collected records of primeval times1 attesting that mighty agencies have been at work in rending the globe1 re-adjusting its materials1 and preparing them for future combinations4 ,how speedily1 in these first days of creation1 does geology make us acquainted with the liability to change and mutation stamped upon all earthly things6 ,the mountains are raised up1 and their earliest struggles are to get down again4 ,nor is it the law of matter1 if we may use the expression1 to rise4 ,the waters seek the hollows of the earth1 because they are material4 ,the rocks1 more solid1 are subject to the same principle of gravitation1 and their course is downward1 and their natural place the bottom of the waters4 ,when the rocks were separated from and elevated above the waters1 it was not by any virtue or power in themselves to assume these positions4 ,the separation as well as the elevation were the results of direct arrangement2 both certainly provided for in the original plan1 and yet not the less brought about against their own material tendencies by a special agency4 ,geology thereby establishes the fact1 that the mountains were raised up and the dry land ,,commanded to appear4 ,and now1 decomposing and wasting down1 we see them seeking back to their old places1 to be there re-constructed1 and to subserve other purposes4 ,,the ,,organic ,,remains1 which fall next to be described1 are confined to three of the beds1 as enumerated above4 ,the first of these1 in the order of superposition1 is the micaceous flagstone of ,carmylie and ,arbroath1 likewise extending along the south bank of the ,tay1 and distinguished by the vegetable culmiferous impressions with which it abounds4 ,these1 in some places1 are so numerous1 as to cover the entire surface of the rock4 ,the idea of an ancient marsh is immediately called up in the mind1 as one sees stone after stone split up1 and all the interstices mottled and streaked over with the stems and leaves of the plants which were fed by its waters4 ,while we write1 every pond1 and every lake in the neighborhood has crept quietly under its carpeting of ice1 a congelation of the living with the dead4 ,how beautiful and distinctly delineated the culms and leaves of the chara locked in its crystal embrace2 the flower of the juncus yet lingers on the stalk2 and there1 how gracefully float the long broad continuous stems of the scirpus lacustris6 ,the pike and perch1 both typified in the olden rocks1 may be seen motionless as a stone1 or softly buoyant as the down1 in the clear depths below4 ,not so brightly1 but now as fixedly set1 and as minutely preserved1 are the fragments of the flora of the ,devonian age3 if blackened and jetty in their hoary antiquity1 these films of mica give light and relief to the darker background of the picture2 and shapes1 too1 were there sporting in the waters1--the seraphim and buckler-headed cephalaspis1--which painter never conceived1 nor poet feigned4 ,these fossils are not in a state of petrifaction1 but generally consist in the form of an easily-separated film of carbonaceous matter1 or more frequently as a simple coaly marking4 ,sometimes1 but very rarely1 the plant is found betwixt the slaty layers1 as it were in a dried state1 and still perfectly flexible2 and the impressions not unfrequently resemble the narrow striated leaves of the alopecurus geniculatus1 the floating foxtail-grass1 with its knotted culms4 ,there are other specimens1 that look like the bark of trees1 or the branches of the gnarled oak1 ribbed and jointed crosswise4 ,the round dotted patches1 varying from the size of a garden pea to an inch in diameter1 not unlike1 in shape and appearance1 the form of a compressed strawberry1 are very plentiful4 ,dr4 ,fleming1 in ,cheek's 8,edinburgh ,journal0 for ,february1 #ahca1 has figured this organism in connection with the stem1 which thereby forms a graceful and well-defined flowering plant1 while ,sir ,charles ,lyell considers these berry-shaped forms to be the relics of the ova of some gasteropoda of the period4 ,but at ,wormit and ,parkhill they are so uniformly1 and in such numbers1 associated with the culmiferous and leaf impressions1 as most strongly to vindicate their claim to a vegetable origin4 ,we have in our collection several specimens1 with this organism separated certainly from the culm1 but still in such closeness and proportionate size1 as1 with little aid from the imagination1 to infer their former connection1 and assign to them a place among the phanerogamous and seed-yielding plants4 ,if so1 we cannot too highly prize these relics1 regarding them1 as they undoubtedly are1 among the oldest of organic substances--the first of the green herbs that sprung from the earth--the fragile flower1 that withers often in a day1 there to attest the mandate of primeval creation4 ,how many seasons have returned2 how many seed-times and harvests have covered the fields2 what revolutions and changes over all these hills and plains1 since that flinty rock formed the soil1 and these vegetables sprung from its fertility6 ,they are not admitted among the economic order of the gramine2 nor whether of marine1 semi-marine1 or lacustrine origin1 have geologists been able to determine4 ,of the ,,animal ,,remains of fishes belonging to the gray sandstone1 the ,cephalaspis ,lyellii was one of the earliest discovered1 as it still constitutes one of the most remarkable of these fossil relics4 ,the head of this creature1 and hence the name buckler-headed1 is large in proportion to the body1 forming nearly one-third of its length4 ,the outline is rounded in the form of a crescent1 the lateral horns inclining slightly toward each other1 while the anterior or central parts project considerably outward2 this peculiarity of structure is occasioned by the intimate anchylosis of all the plates which compose the cranium4 ,the body resembles in appearance an elongated spindle1 swelling out on the ridge of the back1 and narrowing to the extremity of the tail1 which terminates in a long slender point4 ,how like1 peradventure1 the very dagger with which the murderous ,thane of ,glammis threatened to render-- 8,the multitudinous seas incarnadine1 ,making the green one red60 ,the sanguineous fluid1 in those days1 was not indeed very plentiful2 but the sharp-horned orthocer1 and the swift predaceous nautili were cotemporaries2 and hence1 either for protection or attack1 we find that1 while the head of the ,cephalaspis was one entire plate of enameled bone in the upper division1 the body was wrapped in a closely woven net-work of bony scales1 of peculiar form1 and differing from the scales of every other genus of ganoids4 ,the scales along the center of the sides are so high1 that their breadth exceeds their length eight or ten times1 occupying more than half the height of the animal4 ,everywhere meshed in smaller but equally impervious nettings1 there are of the larger scales1 from twenty-six to thirty covering the sides1 thereby completing a mail-clad figure of a singularly warlike aspect1 and bidding defiance1 like his great anti-type1 to all his foes1--8let fall thy blade on vulnerable ,,crests0--but now1 like ,banquo's ghost1 8the bones are marrowless40 ,these curious fossils were first detected in the quarries at ,glammis1 by ,sir ,charles ,lyell1 and from their striking resemblance to the cephalic shield of certain trilobites1 were supposed1 for a time1 to belong to the class of crustaceans4 ,the beds of ,carmylie and ,balruddery1 yield these organisms in the greatest abundance4 ,one solitary specimen1 a fragment of two inches in length1 of the smaller scaly net-mesh1 has been obtained by me in the gray rock1 on the south bank of the ,tay4 ,the heads are uniformly in the best state of preservation2 indeed hundreds of these lie entire1 where no part of the body has left the trace of an impression4 ,m4 ,agassiz assigns1 as the reason of this1 the great difference that exists in the structure of these two parts1 and especially in the disproportion of their dimensions and forms1 which would offer a distinct resistance to the pressure to which the animals must have been exposed4 8,if1 on the other hand10 he adds1 8the heads usually present their superior surface to us1 it is because their inferior surface1 the cavity of the mouth1 the branchial arch and sinuosities of the inferior bones of the cranium1 are points of support comparatively more solid1 and more adapted for sustaining the matter which has filtered into them1 than a larger surface slightly convex1 which would naturally be detached from the rock wherever a separation was found in it40 ,,the ,,den ,,of ,,balruddery presents us with a group of very remarkable fossils1 comprising1 in an area of the gray sandstone of a few square yards1 innumerable impressions of the plant-markings already noticed1 multitudes of the ,cephalaspis1 spines1 and other ichthyolites1 along with two entirely new genera of fishes of the order of ,placoids4 ,the sandstone here is of a very slaty character1 splitting up into thin layers1 betwixt every one of which some organism or other has impressed its form2 and the different kinds are often so promiscuously huddled together1 as to suggest the idea of some violent commotion in the element which collected and destroyed them4 ,in the 8,synoptical ,table of ,british ,fossil ,fishes10 by ,m4 ,agassiz1 we find inserted a ,parexus recurvus1 and a ,clematius reticulatus1 from this locality2 they are represented simply as ichthyodorulites1 no complete specimens of the creatures having been presented to him1 nor indeed have any been as yet obtained4 ,one of the specimens in the ,balruddery collection1 when returned by ,m4 ,agassiz1 was labeled as a ,palocarcinus alatus3 and in the #adth ,livraison of his 8,poisson ,fossiles10 he thus writes3--8,enfin j'en dois aussi plusieurs espces ,m4 ,webster de ,balruddery4 ,parmi ses chantillons j'en ai trouv plusieurs d'un grand intrt1 parce qu'ils m'ont fait connatre que le genre ,pterygotus que j'avais tabli1 il y a plusieurs annes1 sur des fragmens trs-imparfaits1 n'appartient point la classe de poissons1 mais bien en celle des crustaces4 ,une pareille erreur semble peine possible1 et cependant elle parat excusable lorsque je ferai connatre les caractres de ce fossile2 des botanistes clbres n'avaient pas hsit les ranger parmi les ,algues4 ,les ,seraphius fossiles des carrires de ,forfarshire1 que ,m4 ,lyell a soumit la ,section de ,geologie de l',association ,britannique runie ,edinbourg en #ahcd1 sont des ces mmes crustaces gigantesques du terrain ,dvonien4 ,ils offrent des rapports loigns avec les ,entomestracs gigantesques du terrain houiller1 dcrits sous les noms d',edotea et d',eurypterus40 ,the ,lobster1 accordingly1 of ,balruddery is the first discovery of its fossil kind2 portions of nearly every organ of the body have been found1 so as to make the restoration of the crustacean complete3 a creature of at least four feet in length1 and as in the fishes of this epoch1 the shelly covering is dotted all over with enameled scale-like markings4 ,this magnificent collection remains still undescribed1 hundreds of the specimens1 from the minute to the gigantic1 and of the greatest diversity of character1 being only detached fragments of the structures to which they belonged2 but enough have we there to testify as to the early prolific abundance of ,nature1 and that1 throughout all ages1 her types and forms of life are wonderfully allied4 ,the interesting locality of ,balruddery is succeeded by another in the ascending order of the strata1 but lower on the plain of the ,carse of ,gowrie1--,clashbennie1 situated about six miles to the westward4 ,this rock is well entitled to be denominated the ,holoptychius ,bed1 as here the first complete specimen of that remarkable genus was obtained1 and of which there are three species in the deposit1 namely1 ,h4 ,giganteus1 ,noblissimus1 and ,murchisoni4 ,three other genera1 of the ganoid order of fishes1 have left their relics in this bed1 some of them in a beautiful state of preservation3 these are ,glyptosteus reticulatus1 ,phyllolepis concentricus1 and ,glyptolepis elegans1 all named and described by ,m4 ,agassiz4 ,the ,holoptychius ranks among the family of ,clacanthes1 and the term ,holoptychius 7holos1 entire2 and ptyche1 a wrinkle7 is applied to the fossil from the circumstance of the scales being covered with wrinkled dots or markings1 the enameled surface of which is indented with deep undulating furrows4 ,another characteristic feature of this genus consists in the distant position of the ventrical fins1 being considerably removed toward the tail1 and in the arrangement of the branchial organs1 which form two large plates between the branches of the inferior ray1 as in the genus ,megalichthys4 ,the structure of the 8nageoirs10 the rounded form of the ventrical fin1 and the manner in which the rays of its anterior edge are insensibly prolonged1 in connection with their relative thinness1 are also marked distinctions4 ,the head of the ,holoptychius is remarkably small in comparison with the size of the body1 which1 in the ,clashbennie specimen measures thirty inches in length by twelve in breadth4 ,the scales are still disproportionately larger than either the head or body1 some of them being nearly three inches in length by two and a half in breadth1 with a corresponding thickness4 ,the structure of the dermal covering is beautiful in the extreme2 it is composed of these scale-plates1 articulating1 and laced together in such a way as to combine the greatest possible strength with the highest degree of flexibility2 and1 protected by a rich coating of enamel1 it must have been capable of the greatest endurance1 and of resisting any pressure4 ,two thickly set rows of teeth2 one inner1 and extremely minute1 the other large and pointed1 completed the equipments of a mouth adapted to seize and crush to powder any intruder upon its pasturage4 ,the vertebral column extended to the extremity of the tail1 which was forked or divided into two unequal lobes1 a contrivance of nature that enabled the animal to turn quickly on its back before striking its prey4 ,this form of the tail is called the ,,heterocercal2 it is characteristic of most of the fishes of the period1 and prevailed during the palozoic age2 when it gave way1 at the era of the chalk formation1 to what is termed the ,,homocercal structure1 and which still exists in the fishes of the current epoch4 ,the ,phyllolepis is a very striking genus of the same family1 and has also been noticed at considerable length by the ,swiss naturalist4 ,the scales1 or other plates1 which covered the body of this fish are of enormous dimensions1 being nearly half a foot in diameter1 and rounded to an obtuse angle4 ,what distinguishes them from all other scales1 and particularly from those of the ,holoptychius1 with which they have certain external resemblances1 is their extreme tenuity1 consisting simply of a film of enamel spread over a thin osseous membrane1 scarcely so thick as the blade of a knife1 and varying from three to five inches in diameter4 ,their surface is smooth1 or slightly marked with concentric wrinkles parallel to the edge of the scale4 ,two species of this genus have been found1 one in the old red1 and the other in the coal formation4 ,in the ,clashbennie sandstone only a few detached scales have been detected1 but sufficiently well preserved to show the superposition1 or imbrication1 perhaps1 in which they stood relatively to each other1 the wrinkles serving as grooves by which their adhesion was more firmly effected4 ,one decided characteristic of this organ in the ,phyllolepis concentricus is1 that it is a little raised toward the middle1 whence it again declines or sinks on all sides1 after the manner of a roof4 ,the sandstones flanking the hill of ,kinnoul1 and stretching along the left bank of the ,tay1 by ,scone and ,lethendy1 appear to be a continuation of the ,clashbennie beds1 as also those occupying the ridges by ,ruthven and ,dupplin1 where they assume much of the fissile character and micaceous aspect of the ,carmylie flag-stone1 but everywhere destitute of organic remains in the whole western district from ,perth to ,callander4 ,the absence of fossils from particular beds has been accounted for in various ways4 ,but even in the same series of rocks1 and where there is no break in the continuity of the strata1 it is a maxim of geology that the range of fossils is not always co-extensive with the mineral deposits4 ,then1 as now1 the explanation is1 that the slightest physical changes affected the tastes and habits of the animal kingdom2 the direction and strength of a current2 the depth of water2 the character and qualities of the sea-bottom2 the force of tidal action2 the season of the year1 being1 it is well known1 singly sufficient to produce great differences as to the migrations and favorite haunts of almost every aquatic race4 ,and hence it is laid down as a recognized principle in the science1 that a particular bed of rock within certain limits is not to be excluded from its place in a system1 and another substituted therein1 by the mere presence or absence of a certain class of fossils4 ,individuals1 too1 will often outlive the family to which they belong1 and be found in certain localities intermixed with the races of a higher group of rocks4--,and these remarks are applicable to all the formations1 less or more1 from the lowest fossiliferous strata to the latest of the tertiaries4 ,applied to the old red sandstone1 they serve to explain the fact that1 while the precise relative position of the western beds in the district under review cannot in every instance be determined1 large spaces or areas are entirely destitute of organic remains which in the eastern1 and not distant1 localities are detected in the greatest abundance and variety4 ,the system of rocks is unquestionably the same1 but neither cephalaspis1 parexus1 clematius1 holoptychius1 glyptosteus1 phyllolepis1 nor glyptolepis1 ever would seem to have frequented these parts2 whether for the reasons above assigned1 or for any other local cause1 or simply that they did not like the region--as the grouse and ptarmigan1 even now1 will not descend to the plains--is one of the recondite problems of animal life connected with the new as well as the older state of things4 ,these beds may yet1 however1 be discovered to be fossiliferous1 as the smallest space in local distance may reveal their hidden stores1 to reward the diligent observer1 and add to our knowledge of the aboriginal fauna of the district4 ,the lesson farther taught by the varied phenomena which have passed under review in this chapter would seem to be1 that there is nothing fixed or permanent in such arrangements of nature4--,these are the beginnings of creation1 and both as respects organic and inorganic matter1 change and re-construction have prevailed from the earliest periods to which our researches can penetrate4--,the ,divine ,architect did not complete things as we now see them1 in one initial act2 nor1 as we regard quiescence and stability1 were the elements and forces of nature so balanced as not to interfere even in violent collision with one another4 ,a world is called into existence4 ,storms and commotions rend its frame4--,sea and land contend for mastery4 ,and everything within its bounds1 like the flux of time1 like day and night1 summer and winter1 life and death1 is observed to have emerged into being and form1 to have assumed new arrangements1 then to have perished2 or gradually1 as its nature might be1 to have consumed away4 ,no reason can be assigned for all this1 as the law or order of events1 except the appointment of ,him who made and continues the constitution of nature as it is4 ,no adequate cause of creation can ever be conceived but that of the ,divine ,goodness2 and while we never can expect fully to comprehend the wisdom that planned1 and the power that carried into effect1 the purposes of that wisdom1 still the very effort to attain knowledge concerning them1 fulfills one great object for which man is made curious about the works of his ,maker4 ,in contemplating the wonders of those days1 the variety1 adaptation and perfection of everything in itself as then constructed1 he will always refer to that ,infinite ,intelligence through whose goodness he is permitted to enjoy knowledge4 ,in becoming wiser he will become better4 ,his increasing knowledge will be made subservient to a more exalted faith in that everlasting 8,word0 who framed the worlds2 and in proportion as the vail becomes thinner through which he sees the origin and course of things1 he will admire all the more the brightness of ,him who was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world4 ,illustration3 ,holoptychius ,noblissimus4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,yellow ,,sandstone4 ,dura ,den1 whither the scene of our explorations now shifts1 occupies a central position in ,fifeshire1 and lies equidistant betwixt ,st4 ,andrews and ,cupar1 the county town4 ,this classic field of geology is therefore of the easiest access4 ,the railway traverses the opening to the ravine1 a lovely valley of choice archological as well as fossil remains1 where parliaments have assembled and a scepter was contended for1 the retreat of learned churchmen1 and a refuge in the caverns of its rock for persecuted saints4 ,a day's excursion to such a place cannot fail to be a profitable as well as agreeable one1 where the students of geology1 or of botany1 or of history1 will severally meet with objects suitable to their taste2 and1 if lovers of the tragic1 a short detour to the left will furnish a sight of ,magus ,muir1 of cruel memory and most indefensible policy4 ,the geological structure of ,dura ,den is more than ordinarily interesting1 presenting1 as it does within a limited distance1 and in close juxtaposition1 the two series of the old red sandstone and carboniferous systems1 an included mass of overlying trap1 a greenstone dyke1 and a vein of galena4 ,the whole length of the dell1 with its windings1 from the ruins of the castle resting on the conglomerate red1 to the outgoing on the south into ,ceres basin of the coal formation1 does not exceed a mile and a half4 ,the rocks overhang the road which passes through the valley1 the sandstone in some places rising precipitously into bold mural cliffs of a hundred feet in height1 and presenting colored and well-defined sections of the different layers of which it is composed4 ,these constitute the fish beds of the yellow sandstone group1 lying toward the northern extremity of the den1 and consist of beds of variegated marls1 intermixed with friable arenaceous bands1 and hard1 compact1 fine-grained building stone4 ,the carboniferous series are separated from those of the yellow sandstone by the greenstone dyke referred to1 which immediately1 and inconveniently for sight of the junction1 interposes betwixt the two systems4 ,the lower beds of the independent coal formation are here thrown up to an angle of #bf1 the yellow sandstone adjacent being nearly horizontal1 and in no place exceeding an inclination of eight or ten degrees4 ,the coal beds have been lifted up by and repose anticlinally upon the trap1 where the cutting for the road has exposed the outcrop of the seams2 and thus1 in a narrow space and lying on the surface1 we may mark the outgoing and the incoming of a vast revolutionary epoch1 organic and inorganic1 in the earth's history4 ,the strata1 consisting of alternating bands of coal1 shale1 ironstone1 and sandstone1 assume toward the head of the valley a nearly horizontal position1 abutting against a mass of trap which separates the lower from the upper workable beds of the bituminous mineral in the ,ceres basin4 ,dura ,den1 in addition to the interest arising from lithological structure1 presents an excellent example of a valley of erosion4 ,the river which traverses it rises at times into considerable volume1 and sweeps with violence through the pass2 connected above1 at one period1 with a lake1 and acting continuously on soft friable matter1 the abrading powers of the instrument are sufficiently adequate to the production of the effect4 ,the qualities of the rocks penetrated may be easily inferred from the windings of the stream--the harder substances occasioning a divergence from the straight course--the soft and marly scooped out into wider and more extended areas4 ,a section of any one of them is thereby labeled for the fullest inspection1 which are arranged1 not perpendicularly one upon another1 but drawn out in longitudinal succession on the floor and sidewalls of the valley1 and exhibiting to the geologist1 after so many types and forms of the old red sandstone1 the first break and most northern limit of the coal metals in the great central basin of ,scotland4 ,,the ,,yellow ,,sandstone1 as it is termed from its prevailing color1 though not uniformly so1 belongs to the old red or devonian system of rocks1 of which the cornstone and conglomerate beds are in the immediate vicinity1 and the position and relation of the three to one another easily determinable4 ,the upper or yellow deposit occupies the valley of ,stratheden nearly throughout its entire length and breadth1 and ranges along the base of the heights of ,nydie1 ,cults1 the ,lomonds1 ,binnarty1 and the ,cleish hills1 dipping under the carboniferous lower group1 and generally separated by overlying masses of trap4 ,the sandstones1 indeed1 of both systems1 resemble each other so much in color and texture1 that in many instances along the line now indicated the trap must be taken as a guide by which to ascertain the qualities and respective positions of the two series4 ,glenvale1 a beautiful ravine which intersects the ,lomond range1 presents admirable sections of the whole group1 in their regular order of superposition and finely displaying their contrasting mineral characters4 ,,organic ,,remains4 ,these are abundantly distributed in scales1 teeth1 spines1 coprolites1 and other remains1 and are to be found in every opening and quarry throughout the range of the deposit4 ,it is only in ,dura ,den1 however1 that any entire animal forms have as yet been obtained1 and these all confined to a portion of the rock not exceeding thirty yards by three in breadth1 a narrow trough excavated for the purpose of forming a water-shed to the mill1 which stands in the center of the valley4 ,the fossils derived from this single spot consist of four new genera1 and seven or eight new species1 that have been added to our catalogue of extinct animals4 ,these remains were all in a state of beautiful preservation2 the scales and fins are brightly enameled1 and contrasted with the matrix in which they are set1 the colors are as vivid and glistening as when the animals were sporting in their native element4 ,the specimens1 ,i believe1 of the various collections made in this rich depository by different parties were all submitted to the examination of ,m4 ,agassiz1 who has figured several of them in his 8,monograph0 on the old red sandstone1 but without completing1 it is much to be regretted1 his descriptions of the various fossils4 ,we give the following abridgment of such descriptions as are contained in the work4 ,there are two new species of ,holoptychius represented1 namely1 ,andersoni and ,flemingii1 and these are distinguished entirely by the form and tracery of their respective scales4 ,the ,h4 ,andersoni is described as a small spindle-shaped 7fusiforme7 fish1 thick and short1 and narrowing rapidly toward the tail4 ,illustration3 ,holoptychius ,andersoni4 ,the scales are much less than those of the other species1 as deep as they are broad1 and resembling in general form the scales of the ,h4 ,murchisoni found in ,clashbennie4 ,what peculiarly distinguishes them is the figure of the ornaments 7le dessin des ornemens7 of the surface1 which are parallel1 horizontal1 very marked and distant in the ,a4 and never extending in the stri to the posterior edge4 ,the scales1 again1 of ,h4 ,flemingii are on the sides of the fish deeper than they are broad1 and on the belly they become rounder4 ,their ornaments are also very distinct in the ,f41 consisting of a system of waving lines1 which run horizontally toward the outer edge without any perceptible ramification1 while the wrinkles of the scale rise from a series of little hills 7collines7 ranged parallel over the length of the inner edge1 undulating and very close4 ,this specimen is represented as very imperfect4 ,the other is nearly entire1 the plates of the head and several of the teeth are well preserved1 every scale is in its place1 and the fins are only wanting to restore the normal outline of the fish4 ,this fossil has been figured and erroneously described in the author's 8,geology of the ,county of ,fife0 under the name of gyrolepis 7holoptychius now7 giganteus1 from which1 says ,m4 ,agassiz1 it differs specifically4 ,from the fossils of this locality has been established the new genus of ,,glyptopomus1 the specimen of which being originally mistaken by ,agassiz for a platygnathus1 but since found by him to differ from that genus in several material points4 ,the scales of the platygnathus1 for example1 are round and imbricated1 possessing in this respect all the characteristics of the scales of the clacanthes1 while on the other hand those of the glyptopomus resemble the scales of the sauroids1 which are rhomboidal or square 7ou carres71 closely set and never imbricated1 as shown in the subjoined illustration4 ,illustration3 ,glyptopomus ,minor4 ,moreover1 the platygnathes are lengthy 7allongs7 in the body1 likewise long 7longue7 in the tail1 which is furnished with a very strong fin1 whereas the body of the glyptopomes is very thick1 and the tail short4 ,the ornaments of the scales of ,g4 bear a close affinity to those generally of the clacanthes4 ,only one species as yet has been found1 the glytopomus minor1 and figured in the tab4 #bf of the 8,monograph0 under the name of platygnathus minor4 ,the glyptopomus minor1 says ,m4 ,agassiz1 found in ,dura ,den1 and of which there is but one specimen1 is possessed of a body broad and thick1 approaching in form to that of the holoptychius4 ,the fish is lying on the belly1 and turned slightly to the left1 so that it is the back and right side which are represented in the plate4 ,the head is proportionally small1 covered with bones very irregularly carved1 presenting a dense and diversified granular aspect4 ,on the side of the head there is a large enameled plate1 which shows that the cheek was covered1 as in the polypterus1 with one single osseous plate1 on the under edge of which was fixed the large masticatory muscle4 ,the scales on the body of the fish are large1 high on the sides1 and nearly square on the back1 where in the middle they form an oblique series converging to an acute angle4 ,the scales are very thick set on the side of each other1 and apparently connected only by means of the skin to which they are attached4 ,the enameled surface is not smooth1 but rather marked with a fine granulation1 which imparts a rich velvet gloss to the scale4 ,traces only of the fins are preserved1 partly of the ventral1 partly of the dorsal or caudal1 and the rays of which are all apparently short and slender4 ,this specimen forms a part of the author's collection1 but inadvertently described as belonging to that of ,professor ,jameson4 ,another genus1 established from the fossils of ,dura ,den by ,m4 ,agassiz1 is the ,pamphractus1 of which there are two species1 ,hydrophilus and ,andersoni4 ,these are both in the collection of the author1 and have a special history of their own1 from which1 when read in all its details1 it would appear they have suffered as roughly at the hands of geologists in simply determining their class1 order1 or genus1 as they ever did from the physical revolutions amidst which their lot was originally cast4 ,before the type of a new and strange form called ,pterichthys1 had been determined by this learned palontologist1 collectors were everywhere puzzled by the specimens of the animal that1 from time to time were casting up4 ,the winged appendages of the sides of the head1 as movable fins1 had easily given rise to a variety of opinions concerning their true affinities1 and which1 says ,m4 ,agassiz1 8have been regarded by the most able naturalists successively as ,tortoises1 ,fishes1 ,crustacea1 and even ,coleoptera40 ,the fossils of ,dura ,den were at first regarded by him as belonging to the type as well as genus ,pterichthys1 and my specimens were actually returned from ,neufchtel so named--the 8broad0 and 8narrow0 species--and the label still remains attached4 ,meanwhile1 five or six species of the genus ,pterichthys had been already determined and described by him1 from the fossils of ,cromarty and ,morayshire--these in the collection chiefly of ,mr4 ,hugh ,miller2 and ,mr4 ,miller being1 about the same period1 engaged in the preparation of his work1 8,the ,old ,red ,sandstone10 speedily under the new nomenclature1 as he was so opportunely furnished with the materials1 gave the public the benefit of ,m4 ,agassiz's discovery and version of their true and authentic history4 ,what we had hastily1 certainly1 but still influenced much in the matter by the judgment of others1 referred to the order of ,coleoptera1 he was enabled at once1 upon the inspection of a ,dura ,den specimen1 and from its very striking resemblance to his own1 to pronounce to be a ,pterichthys4 ,a few pages before he had stated that he could make nothing of the creature1 although some specimens of the fossil had been in his possession for a period of nearly ten years2 but ,,now1 he was able to record1--8,i very lately enjoyed the pleasure of examining the bona fide ichthyolite itself1--one of the specimens of ,dura ,den1 and apparently one of the more entire1 in the collection of ,professor ,fleming4 ,its character as a ,pterichthys ,i found very obvious40 ,but short-lived1 indeed1 are all mundane enjoyments4 ,the most intellectual1 in the revolutions of science1 are not exempt from their general character of vanity4 ,while the two northern sages were thus gazing1 in all the raptures of a new discovery1 8upon the bona fide ichthyolite itself10 the philosopher1 under the shelter of the ,jura1 was doubting1 re-examining1 and finally correcting1 his own first judgment2 and1 while the virgin pages of 8,the ,old ,red ,sandstone0 had scarcely time to reach their author1 the 8,monograph0 was announcing to the world the determination of a new genus1 and that the fossil of ,dura ,den was a ,pamphractus1 and no ,pterichthys at all4 8,i had at first10 says ,agassiz1 8connected with pterichthys the only species known of that genus1 by calling it pterichthys hydrophilus1 but a more profound study and attentive comparison of that species with the genus coccosteus1 have proved that it ought to form a distinct genus1 intermediate betwixt pterichthys and coccosteus1 which ,i have named pamphractus1 in consequence of the divided form of the carapace4 ,the pectoral fins of pamphractus resemble very much those of the pterichthys in their form1 being slender1 elongated1 and crooked 7courbe74 ,but the plates of the carapace are all differently arranged4 ,the central plate is very large 7norme72 it covers two-thirds of the whole carapace1 and unites the anterior articulation of the head with the carapace4 ,the lateral plates1 which acquire so great a development in the pterichthys1 are here reduced to narrow stripes1 stretching to the edge of the carapace2 while1 on the other hand2 the posterior plates are of very great size1 and form with a small intercalated plate the extremity of the carapace4 ,the disposition of the plates of the head is likewise very different from that of the pterichthys1 in which we discern no thoracic cincture as in that genus1 but a transverse line1 which separates in a striking manner the plates of the head from those of the carapace4 ,we see not any portion of the tail2 but ,i presume that it would bear a resemblance to the form of that of pterichthys40 ,agassiz thus concludes his description of pamphractus1 which we have partly abridged3--8,the excessive development of the central plate of the carapace which reaches the articulation of the head--the absence of a thoracic cincture making the round of the body--and the distinct separation of the occipital articulation1 will always distinguish this genus from that of pterichthys40 ,again1 however1 the ashes of the dead have been disturbed1 the history has been recast1 and the old genealogy attempted to be restored4 ,sir ,p4 ,g4 ,egerton1 in a paper read before the ,geological ,society of ,london1 on the #aith ,april1 #ahdh1 and a copy of which he did me the honor to transmit1 has examined very minutely every organ and portion of the animal as delineated in the 8,monograph10 and is satisfied that it is1 indeed1 still to be regarded as a genuine pterichthys4 ,however1 ,sir ,philip very cautiously adds1--8,having never seen a specimen of pamphractus1 ,i should not be justified in expressing any positive opinion respecting this genus1 but ,i cannot help thinking that it is founded on a specimen1 showing the true dorsal arrangement of the lorication of the ,pterichthys40 ,accordingly1 ,mr4 ,miller1 who supplies a considerable portion of the paper in question1 affirms1 with abundant confidence1 that he has been able to penetrate the mystery of the error4 8,i have succeeded10 he says1 8in tracing to its origin the ,pamphractus of ,agassiz4 ,the specimens which he figures could never have furnished the materials of his restoration--,these materials he evidently derived from the print of a ,pterichthys of the upper ,old ,red 7showing the dorsal superficies of the creature71 given by the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,anderson of ,newburgh1 in his ,essay on the ,geology of ,fifeshire 7#8,quarterly ,journal of ,agriculture1' ,vol4 ,,xi1 #ahdj71 as that of a fossil beetle40 ,now1 with all submission1 this hypothesis is wide of the fact4 ,while ,mr4 ,miller was inspecting1 at ,aberdeen1 8the bona fide ichthyolite itself10 and which1 as we shall immediately see1 was not a ,pterichthys1 ,agassiz had both the print and the real specimens lying before him4 ,the impressions on the slab are ,,eleven in number1 three of the 8broad0 and eight of the 8narrow0 species2 and1 comparing the one with the other1 the print with the fossil1 he records1 8,they have been figured ,,very ,,fairly by ,mr4 ,anderson1 in his interesting ,memoir on the ,geology of ,fifeshire40 8,but10 adds ,mr4 ,miller1 8,i have ascertained1 by the examination of the greater number of specimens of this species yet found1 in the general outline of the carapace1 which was longer in proportion to its breadth than in the print1 and not defined by such regular curves40 444 ,the print is a perfect transcript of the fossil1 as if taken in a mold1--curves1 projections1 and tubercles all duly and 8fairly0 preserved1 as in the original2 and1 with all the materials1 and so many actual impressions before him1 ,agassiz hesitated not to change his views1 and to feel assured that it was really a ,pamphractus1 not a ,pterichthys1 that he was examining4 ,farther1 we have only to add1 that in the ,essay in the ,quarterly ,journal of ,agriculture1 it is not true that the print of a ,pterichthys is there 8given as that of a fossil beetle20 the higher patronymic had1 ere the publication of the prize essay1 been withdrawn2 and the author1 along with all others1 states1 he was waiting the judgment of the highest and most competent authority from the blue lake of ,neufchtel4 ,and thither also1 it would now appear1 that other inquiries had been transmitted respecting the organisms of ,dura ,den1 to be famed by modern1 as it had already been by ancient1 genealogical claims4 ,we suspect1 at least1 it is of 8the bona fide ichthyolite itself0 that ,m4 ,agassiz1 in the 8,monograph10 speaks in the following extract3--8,dr4 ,fleming m'a communiqu le dessin d'une ptrifaction recueillie par lui ,dura ,den1 qui resemble beaucoup1 quant la forme du ,pamphractus hydrophilus4 ,la tte est courte1 arrondie1 large1 presque en forme de croissant1 le corps est allong1 formant avec la tte un ovale qui se termine en pointe en arrire4 ,les pectorales sont grles1 courbes et aussi longues que le corps4 ,l'articulation de la tte avec le corps est trs-nettement marque1 d'une manire qu'a la forme de la carapace prs1 qui est beaucoup plus pointue1 on croirait voir un ,pamphractus4 ,mais ce qui distingue surtout ce fossile 7 en juger du moins d'aprs le dessin qui n'est1 vrai dire1 qu'une esquisse7 c'est qu'il n'y a pas de plaques separes1 et que toute la surface de sa carapace ne montre qu'une granulation uniforme et continue1 si toutefois la dlination des plaques n'a pas t omise par le dessinateur4 ,nous aurions donc dans ce fossile un genre nouveau de cephalaspide1 caractris par la forme de sa tte et par sa carapace uniforme4 ,quoi qu'il en soit1 j'attends de plus amples informations sur ce sujet1 avant de prciser davantage les caractres de ce type1 et je me borne reproduire les contours de ce dessin1 ,tab4 #ca1 fig4 #f1 afin de fixer d'une manire plus particulire l'attention sur ce fossile40 ,now1 making every allowance for the imperfection of the sketch of ,dr4 ,fleming1 7qu'une esquisse71 and which had not the aggravation of being a 8print10 only see how many marvels have been successively evolved out of 8the bona fide ichthyolite itself30--it is not a ,pamphractus1 though very much resembling it in form--it is not a ,pterichthys1 of which alliance there is not a hint even dropped by ,agassiz1 though its character as a ,pterichthys ,mr4 ,miller 8found very obvious20 but 8we have in that fossil a new kind 7genre7 of cephalaspis1 characterized by the form of its head1 and by its uniform carapace10 all which characters have been overlooked in 8the pleasure of examining the bona fide ichthyolite itself--one of the specimens of ,dura ,den1 and apparently one of the more entire40 ,has this creature undergone a still further metamorphosis1 numerous as those of the ,pterichthys itself8 ,or what specimen is it which now rejoices in the appellation of ,homothorax ,flemingii1 also again challenged or suspected at least by ,sir ,p4 ,egerton1 not to be its true designation6 ,but1 quocunque nomine gaudeat1 the cabinet of science is enriched by the addition of a new and remarkable fossil fish4 ,repeatedly1 since the notice in ,mr4 ,miller's work of the ,dura ,den fossil1 and his fanciful commentary on the truth and accuracy of the plate in the 8,geology of ,fifeshire10 have ,i examined1 compared1 and recompared the design and the original1 and never have ,i been able to detect the slightest disagreement1 even in the minutest feature4 ,others1 and parties innumerable have examined them freely in my presence1 have pronounced as to the fairness of the representation4 ,there are five figures in all upon the plate of the ,dura ,den fossils2 they were all1 fossils and figures1 under the ocular inspection of ,m4 ,agassiz2 one of these1 ,holoptychius ,andersoni1 he has figured in the 8,monograph20 the representations are identical1 and all are declared to be 8figured very fairly40 ,true1 the pamphractus had not been able to preserve the tail1 nor any trace even of that member4 ,agassiz did not think himself justified in supplying the deficiency4 ,i added none either1 8carefully sinking0 the nonentity4 ,but ,mr4 ,miller had a point to establish3 the fossil ,,must be one and the same with the bona fide ichthyolite itself1 which appears to have retained the caudal appendage4 ,it will not certainly account for the obliteration of this organ in ,,all the specimens of ,dura ,den1 that1 in common with ,pterichthys and ,coccosteus1 the ,pamphractus was not possessed of the heterocercal structure1 so characteristic of the fishes of the period4 ,but yet it is not there4 ,then1 8the tubercles seen in profile10 are exaggerated3 ,agassiz thought fit1 upon examination1 to retain the exaggeration1 as ,nature1 he perceived1 had designed4 ,and now1 ,mr4 ,miller finds it proper to communicate to ,sir ,p4 ,egerton1 that after examining the specimens 7presented by me7 in the ,museum of the ,highland and ,agricultural ,society in ,edinburgh1 8one of the ,,most ,,striking specific distinctions of the creature consists in the length and bulk of the arms1 and the comparatively great prominence of those angular projections by which they are studded on the edges--projections which seem to be but exaggerations of those confluent lines of tubercles by which the arms of all the other species are fringed40 ,so1 ,nature has her 8exaggerations10 likewise6 and the first of the genus which ever rose to the stroke of the hammer1 has in no degree been misrepresented in its fair proportions1 except that the angular projections referred to are not so prominently developed as in other specimens in the author's collection4 ,it will readily be inferred from all this that the locality of ,dura ,den is entitled to much consideration in consequence of the variety of its interesting remains1 not to speak of the diversity of views which the remains themselves have occasioned in so many quarters4 ,the ,pterichthys1 ,pamphractus1 ,homothorax1 and ,cephalaspis are all of the family ,lpidides1 and have such a close affinity in outward form as readily1 in mutilated specimens at least1 to be mistaken for each other4 ,the appendages of the head1 having the appearance of wings1 suggested the term pterichthys1 the winged fish3 the plates covering the body1 according to their number and form1 gave rise to the generic distinctions2 and the species of each have subsequently been determined by minor differences4 ,the external organs in all were enameled1 and discover1 like the fish of the period1 the tuberculated surface4 ,the ,pterichthys of the more northern counties vary in size from nearly a foot to an inch in length1 and generally the wings of these1 so far as they have been figured in works1 are extended horizontally and perpendicularly to the body4 ,the ,pamphractus of ,dura ,den are all nearly of a size--about two inches and a half in length1--the wings in every instance depressed and inclined to the sides1 and in no instance of the twenty to thirty specimens exhumed from the rock1 has the tail been appended1 or a fragment of the caudal organ detected4 ,the cephalaspis has only been found in the lower beds of the system1 and highly important would be its discovery in the upper1 where1 however1 we have reason to think the new genus ,homothorax has been substituted in its place4 ,mrs4 ,dalgliesh of ,dura1 in whose collection we found a ,glyptopomus1 and a slab containing several impressions of the ,pamphractus1 has kindly1 and with a commendable love of science1 informed us that her quarries are freely open for the researches and explorations of geologists1 and that every facility will be afforded them in their interesting task4 ,in addition to the fossils already referred to1 ,i find in the specimens of my collection returned from ,neufchtel1 that two are labeled as ,diplopterus1 new species2 two as ,glypticus1 new species2 and one as ,holoptychius1 new species4 ,this last is now figured in the 8,monograph0 as the ,platygnathus ,jamesoni4 ,none of these are described in the narrative of the work1 so that until his return from ,america1 where palontology will unquestionably reap much from his indomitable perseverance1 his almost instinctive skill1 and vast learning1 we cannot expect that ,m4 ,agassiz will have leisure either to supplement the deficiencies of his great work1 or confirm his former conclusions against the alterations suggested in his absence--suggested certainly in no small degree upon fanciful organization and mistaken assumption4 ,illustration3 ,platygnathus ,jamesoni4 ,in closing our review of the old red sandstone1 we shall briefly state the principles of classification of fossil fishes1 as determined by ,m4 ,agassiz1 from which it will be seen by the earliest types of the marine vertebrata1 while admirably suited to the perturbed condition of the element in which the strata were formed1 differ widely in their structure from all existing races4 ,the fishes of the present era1 it is well known1 are divided into two great classes1 the cartilaginous and the osseous4 ,in the former are comprehended the sharks1 rays1 and sturgeons of our present seas2 the latter embrace the salmon1 cod1 herring1 and the various kinds possessed of similar forms4 ,the bony structure in all the cartilaginous class is soft1 destitute of fibers1 and contains scarcely a trace of earthy or calcareous matter4 ,the osseous fishes1 on the other hand1 are constructed internally of true bone1 composed of calcareous matter1 like that of birds and quadrupeds1 which is possessed of a fibrous arrangement1 of great hardness and capable of long endurance4 ,now1 it would appear that the fishes of the old red sandstone belong almost exclusively to the cartilaginous class4 ,the internal frame was composed chiefly of this soft1 soluble substance2 hence it is that no portion of the inner body of the fish1 in any of the fossil specimens1 remains4--,the teeth and scales1 with fragments of the bones of the head1 are all that have survived1 but so hard and enduring has been the scaly outer coating1 that the figure and contour of the animal have been preserved entire4 ,the specimen of ,holoptychius ,andersoni1 from ,dura ,den1 is still enveloped in its original covering1 not a scale in the whole body displaced or missing1 the head and belly slightly compressed1 while the posterior ridge of the back and tail is sharp and angular4 ,here1 then1 in this class of animal life1 we find that what is defective in the internal structure--if it be a defect--is completely supplied in the outer appendages1 whereby the fishes which have the softest bodies are possessed of hard1 horny skins1 coated with enamel4 ,their bones are thus all on the surface1 sometimes in the form of scales2 sometimes assuming the shape of spines and tubercles2 now in small1 now in large plates2 and often disposed in the most singular and grotesque arrangements1 as in the genus coccosteus1 or the osteolepis1 whose entire skull consisted of shining naked bone1 and in the cheiracanthus1 a creature possessed of fins scaled and enameled all over4 ,the ,swiss naturalist1 accordingly1 in adopting a new principle of classification1 so essential in the case of the fossils of the old red sandstone1 has made the scales and external organs the groundwork of his system4 ,the classification of ,cuvier and the older naturalists proceeds mainly upon the character and disposition of the fins4 ,hence the order of the ,acanthopterygii1 or thorny-finned2 and the ,malacopterygii1 or the soft finned order4--,the classification of ,m4 ,agassiz1 proceeding upon the characters of the scales and plates1 has given rise to the following orders1 namely1 the ,placoid1 or broad-plated scale2 the ,ganoid1 or the shining-scale2 the ,ctenoid1 or comb-shaped scale2 and the ,cycloid1 or marginated scale4 ,upon the simple basis of these four orders1 he has constructed his system and composed his 8,poissons ,fossiles10 the standard authority in fossil ichthyology1 and elaborate monument of his learning and genius4 ,the relations1 as well as distinguishing peculiarities1 of the fishes of the old red1 are thus described by ,agassiz3--8,of the ,placoidian order10 he says1 8the genera ctenacanthus1 onchus1 ctenoptychius1 and ptychacanthus1 are provided with spinous rays to the dorsal fins1 resembling the gigantic ichthyodorulites of the carboniferous and jurassic formations1 but differing in their less considerable size2 they are distinguished among themselves by the forms and ornaments of their rays4 ,in the order of ganoid fishes1 the genera acanthodes1 diplacanthus1 cheiracanthus1 and cheirolepis present themselves at first sight as a separate group2 for although covered1 like the others1 with enameled scales1 these are so small1 that they impart to the skin the appearance of shagreen4 ,the manner in which the fins are sustained by spinous rays1 or the absence of these rays1 and the position of the fins themselves1 have served as characters in the establishing of these genera4 ,the genera pterichthys1 coccosteus1 and cephalaspis1 form a second group exceedingly curious3 the considerable development of the head1 its size1 large plates which cover it1 and which likewise extend over the greater portion of the trunk1 and the movable appendages in the form of a wing1 placed on the side of the head1 give to them the most remarkable appearance4 ,it is these peculiarities1 indeed1 which caused the class to which these genera belong for a long time to be misunderstood4 ,the large bony and granulated plates of coccosteus1 led to their being considered as belonging to trionyx3 and it will be sufficient excuse for this error to call to recollection1 that the greatest anatomist of our age had sanctioned this approximation4 ,the form of the disc of the head of the cephalaspides1 which has the appearance of a large crescent1 and their more numerous1 but very elevated scales1 resembling the transverse articulations of the body1 explain how it was possible to see in these fishes the trilobites of a particular genus4 ,lastly1 the winged appendages of the sides of the head of pterichthys1 as movable as fins1 have easily given rise to the variety of opinions concerning the true affinity of these singular creatures1 and has caused them to be taken at one time for gigantic coleoptera1 at another for crustacea1 or small marine tortoises2 so little do the types of the classes appear fixed in certain respects at these remote times4 ,another singularity of these genera is the association to the bony plates of the head of a vertebral appendage1 which is far from having acquired the same solidity2 but appears1 on the contrary1 to have remained fibro-cartilaginous during the whole life of the animal--resembling in this respect the skeleton of the sturgeon4 8,it would be difficult to find among recent fishes1 types presenting any direct analogy with the genera pterichthys1 coccosteus1 and cephalaspis2 it is only from afar that they can be compared to some abnormal genera of our epoch4444 ,the analogy which they offer1 on the one hand1 in form with the dorsal cord of the embryo of fishes1 together with the inferior position of their mouth1 which is equally met with in the embryos2 and on the other hand1 the distant resemblance of these fishes to certain types of reptiles1 present the most curious assemblage of characters that can possibly be conceived4 ,a third group of fishes belonging to this formation1 comprises those genera whose vertical fins are double on the back and under the tail1 and which approach very near to the caudal4 ,these are the genera dipterus1 osteolepis1 diplopterus1 and glyptolepis1 which differ from one another by the form of their scales and their dentition4 ,and lastly1 it seems necessary to regard as a fourth group of this order1 the genera which are characterized by large conical teeth1 situated on the margin of the jaws1 between which are alternately smaller1 and indeed very small ones1 in the form of a brush4 ,such are the genera holoptychius and platygnathus1 and the genus recently established by ,mr4 ,owen under the name of dendrodus1 and respecting which this learned anatomist has given some exceedingly interesting microscopical details40 ,the philosopher here1 in these views as to the primitive diversity of the ichthyoid types in the old red sandstone1 adduces such illustrations and others not quoted1 as subversive of the theory of the successive transformation of species1 and of the descent of organized beings now living1 from a small number of primitive forms4 ,he asserts the doctrine that the characteristic fossils of each well-marked geological epoch are the representatives of so many distinct creations1 and affirms that he has demonstrated by a vast number of species that the presumed identifications are exaggerated approximations of species1 resembling one another1 but nevertheless specifically distinct4 ,m4 ,agassiz introduces the same doctrine in his latest great work1 the 8,iconographie10 wherein he goes the length of saying1 that1 even when species are1 so far as the eye can judge1 identical1 they may not be so--that there may exist species so nearly allied1 as to render it impossible to distinguish them--and reiterates that each geological epoch is characterized by a distinct system of created beings 7the results of a new intervention of creative power71 including not only different species from those of the preceding system1 but also new types4 ,under his safe guidance we have glanced at the earliest groups and forms of life upon the globe1 and have seen the simple structures of the beginning succeeded by higher1 if not more perfect or more complex1 at least by creatures capable of a wider range of action and enjoyment4 ,the deductions and sweeping inferences of geologists may be often vague and uncertain2 but a science1 whose direct aim is to decipher the records of the past and compare the successive types of animal life upon the earth1 deals with important objects1 and leads to salutary trains of thought1 keeping continually before the view the ,fountain-,head of all being2 and adding a new proof to the sublime doctrine1 that ,man who is privileged so to range through creation and time will himself outlive a term of existence1 measurable by a few points of space and a few moments of eternity4 ,illustration3 ,pamphractus ,andersoni4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,trap ,,rocks4 ,we do not select the rocks which form the title of this chapter from mere arbitrary choice1 or because they are geographically connected with the district under review1 but because they are immediately the next in the chronological order of our course4 ,the ,sidlaws and ,ochils have their position as precisely determined in relation to time as to space1 for difficult often as it may be to fix the sequence of events within the historical era1 there is generally no lack of evidence by which to ascertain1 in the far remoter times1 when the several strata and the igneous masses assumed their respective places on the surface of the globe4 ,the proofs here are of a cumulative character1 and irresistibly conclusive4 ,the animate and inanimate things of earth1 the living and the dead1 are both admissible witnesses in the question1 and their testimony is alike unexceptionable4 ,the saurian seas had been disturbed upon the upheaval of their beds2 these with their organic contents were elevated by the irruption of plutonic matter1 and in their altered position gave a bolder contour and additional bulk to the primitive land4 ,new accumulations were forming during the devonian period in the waters still mightily agitated along the lines of disturbance2 new races of scale-enameled creatures occupied their depths1 and huge crustaceans anchored among their rocky shallows4 ,the interior regions again let loose their giant forces1 and these chains of hills rose above the surface1 disrupting and heaving into day the various deposits of the old red sandstone4 ,hence the formation of the one set of rocks preceded1 in the order of time1 the elevation of the other3 not an islet appeared over all these parts while the sedimentary strata were accumulating beneath3 plants and trees covered the flanks of the ,grampians1 alg and fuci abounded in the waters1 and myriads of fishes sported amid their luxuriance2 but as yet there was no basin of the ,tay1 no fertile ,carse of ,gowrie1 no kingdom of ,fife stored to repletion with its precious metals of iron1 lime1 and coal4 ,the ,sidlaws and ,ochils1 therefore1 become invested with even a romantic interest1 when we thus view them in their geological relations--their age precisely defined--and themselves1 flinty and weather-stained1 the memorials of the vast convulsions and changes of nature4 ,they mark the outgoing of a period comparatively barren of vegetable life1 and the incoming of the exuberant products of the carboniferous epoch4 ,i4 ,,the ,,structure of the ,sidlaw and ,ochil ranges1 from the amorphous character of the rocks1 furnishes little or no room for geological description4 ,these nearly parallel chains of hills1 separated only by an interval of from two to five miles1 and forming the lower water-shed of the basin of the ,tay1 consist of the various members of the trap family usually denominated whinstone1 and whose structure is very different1 upon a glance1 from that of the sandstones and other sedimentary deposits we have been considering4 ,this class of rocks have all a tendency1 in mineralogical phraseology1 to a spathose structure1 and discover at least the rudiments of crystallization3 there is no lamination in their internal texture1 and the lines of stratification which they sometimes exhibit are assumed1 or impressed by the previously consolidated strata among which they have been injected4 ,they are not lavas1 which are sub-arial products1 nor are they aqueous formations1 whose materials have been deposited in water4 ,these rocks are the results of igneous fusion deep under the crust of the earth1 poured over the bottom of the sea1 and protruded into the diversified dome-shaped forms which they generally present4 ,trap-rock consists of several varieties1 as porphyry1 clinkstone1 compact feldspar1 amygdaloid1 greenstone1 and basalt4 ,these all pass into each other by insensible gradations1 often forming one continuous mass1 for the most part composed of the same ingredients1 and have in consequence been regarded by geologists as belonging to one group1 produced under similar circumstances1 and elevated at intervals about the same period4 ,the porphyritic structure prevails generally in both chains1 and 8porphyry has the peculiarity of being rarely found in any but the primary strata3 it seems to be the whinstone of the ,old ,world1 or at least that which is of highest antiquity in the present40#b ,but not only are both ranges characterized by the same qualities and texture of rocks in hand-specimens1 one hill answering to another2 they also preserve the same general features of outline1 and the same relations to the disrupted sandstones among which they have been injected4 ,the highest point1 for instance1 in the eastern division of the ,ochils1 is ,norman's ,law1 attaining an elevation of nearly one thousand feet above the level of the sea3 in its uprise the mass has brought along with it the lower beds of the gray sandstone1 which flank its northern and eastern sides1 within three hundred feet of the summit4 ,to the north and west of ,dundee the highest points of the ,sidlaws are encompassed in like manner with their analogous beds of the gray rock4 ,and so in every locality1 whether along their base lines1 or among the numerous ravines and valleys that intersect their cultivated slopes1 the strata may be seen cropping out1 bearing testimony to the convulsive movements to which they have been exposed1 and the altered positions they have in consequence assumed4 ,a remarkable bed of conglomerate or tufaceous trap intersects the chains at different1 but generally corresponding1 points of elevation1 varying from two to four hundred feet above the sea-level4 ,on the ,ochil side this bed crosses the chain of hills from ,letham school-house to ,lindores ,loch1 where1 along the line of the ,edinburgh and ,northern ,railway1 the out-crop may be observed at various places--very interestingly on the western slope of ,clatchart--and again appearing at intervals toward ,abernethy1 whence it is traceable through the glen4 ,in the ravines of the ,sidlaws1 behind ,rossie ,priory1 in the den of ,pitroddy1 on the face of ,kinnoul and ,moncrieffe ,hills1 and across the ridge intersected by the ,perth tunnel1 indications of the same tufaceous bed can be traced1 consisting1 for the most part1 of quartz rock1 schist1 and rounded masses of the different varieties of the trap1 mixed not unfrequently with bowlders and smaller pieces of the gray and red sandstones4 ,this formation has1 doubtless1 been produced on the bottom of a troubled sea1 where the crust has been exposed to violent action--much of it comminuted and broken into fragments1 rolled and fashioned into nodules1 large portions of it torn up1 but retaining their continuity for a space--when the molten flood has poured from below1 and diffusing itself through the mass1 the whole1 after successive eruptions1 has been lifted to its present elevation4 ,,ii4 ,the amygdaloidal portion of these hills forms an interesting feature1 and prevails very widely in both chains4 ,this rock has a conglomerated stratified appearance in some places2 but generally the matrix is very compact1 rather porphyritic1 of a dark brown or greenish hue1 and when exposed to weathering1 the innumerable small cavities or vesicular tissue by which it is laminated are prominently exposed4 ,these cavities are filled with zeolites1 carbonate of lime1 chalcedony1 prebnite1 and various other crystalline silicious deposits4 ,the green hue is derived from the decomposition1 on the exposed surfaces1 of the imbedded substances4 ,this rock forms the true habitat of the richest and most beautiful specimens of the agate and jasper family1 of the purest ,scottish pebble1 and of large sparkling geodes of amethystine crystals4 ,the agates of ,kinnoul and ,moncrieffe are prized by lapidaries1 as they are admired by amateurs1 and no mineralogist should fail to visit the romantic pass of ,glen ,farg--illustrated by the classic pens of ,galt1 ,lauder1 and ,scott--adorned and stored1 in every niche of its serpentine course1 with calc-spars1 analcime1 chabasie1 stilbite1 heulandite1 konilite1 and the entire family of the zeolites1 presenting often fasciculi of crystals several inches in length1 thin as silken threads1 and rivaling frost-work in the transparency and brilliancy of their texture4 ,the mass of rock constituting ,bein ,hill1 and intersected by the turnpike for miles1 appears as a simple agglutination of nodules of the size and color of garden peas1 and consisting principally of analcime1 zeolite1 and chalcedonic pebbles4 ,what account is given of these curious formations--of their color1 structure1 and qualities--all so different from those of the surrounding matrix8 ,assuming the igneous origin of the trap family of rocks1 and against which there can scarcely exist the possibility of an argument1 it is supposed that1 when in the act of cooling1 cavities would necessarily be produced in the heated molten mass by the expansive power of gases1 and that upon their escape silicious and other deposits would be formed in the empty spaces4 ,all the ingredients of the included crystals1 of every genus1 are plentifully diffused through nature1 mixed up with the matter of every kind of rock2 air and water are nowhere wanting1 and substances sufficiently porous1 for their transmission2 a lamination or separation of coating1 layer upon layer1 is discernible in every agate2 while the still partially existing hollows in some nodules1 and the concentric nature of the bands of earthy matter which lines their surface1 clearly demonstrate the deposition of the outer prior to that of the inner layer1 and prove that at the very time when the crystallization had commenced1 the cavities had assumed the form and shape which they now retain4 ,sometimes1 too1 the nodules have a compressed or flattened appearance2 and the explanation in such cases is1 that the cavities1 if formed during the cooling of the beds1 must have been altered in their shape by pressure either before the deposition of the silicious matter1 or during the successive formation of the layers4 ,other1 and indeed many1 theories are broached1 among which the most plausible is1 that the cavities in which the agates are now found were caused by the 8molecular aggregation of the silicious particles compelling the surrounding matter to yield in proportion to the attraction of these homogeneous particles40 ,the former explanation1 however1 is the most generally adopted1 the most obvious in its conditions1 and the most accordant with the existing processes of nature1 the laws of heat1 and the order of crystallization4 ,the porosity and fibrous structure of agates1 consisting of a congeries of minute radiating fibers at right angles to the rings or concentric layers1 have also been established from microscopical examination1 and hence the diversity of their colors1 whether from vegetable matter or metallic oxides everywhere so abundant in the soils and crust of the globe4 ,the same law or mode of formation applies to crystallized minerals generally1 and has continued to operate from primitive times to our own in their production4 ,the sparkling topazes of ,cairngorm and gigantic crystals of the ,alps--the semi-opal of ,iceland and the heliotrope of ,kinnoul--the dazzling emeralds of ,brazil and ,ethiopia--the stupendous garnets of ,fahlun--the delicately-colored fluors and calc-spars of ,derbyshire and ,cumberland--the gorgeous rubies and sapphires of ,india and ,ceylon--the beautiful prismatic idocrase of ,vesuvius and ,etna--the splendid amethystine geodes of ,oberstein1 ,siberia1 and ,spain1 little grottoes lined with polished geometrical figures1 all declare a common birth as they all nestle in rocks of a common origin4 ,the diamond1 the richest as it is the rarest of all1 belongs to a totally different class of crystallized bodies1 and owes its formation to the agency of entirely different causes4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,dykes ,,or ,,veins form another striking feature among the geological phenomena of these hills1 and seem as if nature intended them for lacings or bands to give greater cohesion and stability to its parts4 ,they consist of long narrow strips of rock1 which have made their way through the previously consolidated strata1 intersecting the planes of their several beds at nearly right angles1 and constituting among themselves a system of parallel and vertical partitions in the rock4 ,once observed in any district1 these dykes are of too marked a character not to excite inquiries as to their uses and mode of formation2 and occurring1 as they do1 in every region and among all classes1 from the oldest primary to the newest tertiary deposits1 they are obviously designed for some great purpose in the plan of ,creation4 ,veins may be described as tabular masses that penetrate the earth's crust to an unknown depth1 and almost invariably consist of different materials from the rocks they traverse4 ,they are supposed to have all been in a state of fusion1 and either themselves to have produced rents and fissures in their pressure upward1 or to have filled with their molten ingredients such as from other causes were already existing4 ,when detected in sandstone or other stratified formations1 they are readily distinguished1 and acknowledged to be of foreign origin as well as of posterior date4 ,the matter of them consists generally1 among the secondary formations1 of basalt or greenstone2 more frequently of porphyry and feldspar among the older and crystalline rocks4 ,in their passage through whinstone the sides of the veins are usually smoothed and polished as if by the action of another body rubbing against them2 the sandstones and other sedimentary rocks are indurated1 or discoloration may be traced for a considerable space inward from the walls of the vein4 ,there is no mixing up of the materials of the dyke1 nor any approach to incorporation with those of the including mass4 ,after exposure on the surface to atmospheric influences1 the basalt or greenstone splits up into large tabular blocks1 which become extremely friable1 and scale off in thin layers1 leaving a central ball1 which exfoliates in like manner1 and gradually molders into dust4 ,these dykes are very numerous in the ,grampians1 occurring everywhere1 and diverging in every direction through the primary rocks4 ,they traverse the lower district on the south of the range1 five or six crossing the ,tay1 and running nearly parallel in a north-westerly course4 ,they rise above the sandstone in various places of ,strathearn1 forming mural ridges1 furrowed into broad jointed masses1 or piled loosely above each other4 ,the outgoing of some of these remarkable concretions can be traced into the ,german ocean4 ,from ,st4 ,andrews westward1 their line of bearing may be detected1 both among the trap-hills and the sandstones which flank them1 and like well-run stags1 after debouching from the ,ochills and ,sidlaws1 converging upon the forest of ,glenartney4 ,doubling1 winding1 and dragging out and in among the passes from ,crieff to ,comrie1 two of them may be descried on the steep face of ,aberuchill1 fairly scaling its lofty summits2 and driving onward1 may others be observed on the south of the ,ruchle1 to the far heights of ,uam-,var4 ,the etymology of the term ,ochil1 would seem to be connected in some way with these geological phenomena4 ,a tradition exists that1 from time immemorial1 the earthquakes of ,comrie were cotemporaneous with subterranean movements or noises in the ,ochil range1 near ,devon4 ,the ,glic word ochain1 or ochail1 signifies1 according to ,armstrong1 8moaning1 wailing1 howling20 and hence it is inferred that the name of the 8,moaning ,hills0 may have been given to the range1 from the sounds so frequently heard in the district4 ,there can be no question as to the probability of a subterranean sympathy betwixt the two localities1 through the instrumentality of these dykes1 or otherwise2 and1 though the series of events referred to above belong to an anterior age--far remote1 indeed1 from the human and all its traditions--a plausible origin is thus given to the name1 in connection with an analogous series of events that did happen within the human period4 ,,iv4 ,a vast historical interest1 therefore1 is to be attached to these hills1 and their phenomena of veins1 connected as they are with the first elevatory movements of the globe1 and when form and outline were being given to its massive fullness4 ,the hand of the ,creator is clearly seen in raising them up from the depths below4 ,not a particle of the entire volume is in its original position1 or that which it would of itself statically assume4 ,god formed everything for use1 while beauty and agreeableness of shape are inseparably combined4 ,when viewed in the light of causation1 it is not enough merely to say1 and there to stop short1 that we see in the outward face of nature the impress of power1 wisdom1 and goodness--that none of these things made themselves--that the rocks and mountains are an image of ,jehovah's greatness--the streams1 plains1 trees1 corns1 animals1 the effect of ,his love and care4 ,all this they unquestionably are1 but they are more4 ,their arrangement and disposition1 beside their mere existence1 evince a continued superintendence--a purpose and a will to maintain an order and construction of elements which would otherwise separate and dissolve--a keeping together1 and as one1 each after their own kind1 the inorganic and organic parts of creation4 ,the philosophy1 as well as theology1 of these arrangements have been thus beautifully recorded3 ,thou coveredst the earth with the deep as with a garment1 the waters stood above the mountains2 at thy rebuke they fled1 at the voice of thy thunder they hastened away into the place thou hast prepared for them4 ,thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over2 that they turn not again to cover the earth4--,it is demonstrable that1 were all the rocks which compose our mountain ranges and dry land to be dissolved and carried into the sea1 the waters of the globe are sufficient again to cover and conceal from view their vast and multiform materials1 and to replace them in those depths whence they originally arose4 ,dr4 ,chalmers1 in his work on natural theology1#c has not1 we think1 correctly apprehended the bearings of the argument for the existence of a ,god drawn from the fact of the existence of a material world4 8,we do not perceive10 he says1 8how1 on the observation of an unshapen mass1 there can from its being alone1 be drawn any clear or strong inference in favor of its non-eternity3 or that simply because it now is1 a time must have been when it was not4 ,we cannot thus read in the entity of matter1 a prior non-entity1 or an original commencement for it3 and something more must be affirmed of matter than merely that it is1 ere we can discern that either an artist's mind or an artist's hand has at all been concerned with it40 ,is this either sound reasoning or good philosophy8 ,the fact of the entity of matter does1 necessarily and directly1 lead to the inference that it had a beginning4 ,it could not originate itself1 and just the more as it is viewed in its mere materiality1 so much the stronger and irresistible the conclusion that there was no potentiality inherent in itself to cause it to begin to exist4 ,strip these hills of all their verdure--remove from the mind all consideration of their beauty1 variety1 and softness of outline--divest that landscape of its ebb and flow of tide--of all that constitutes the scene one of the most charming on the face of the earth1 and in its desolation and sterility you would still in idea revert to a period when it was not4 ,these shapeless1 inert1 barren masses of rock1 and soil1 and sand1 did not place themselves there by any power of their own4 ,whether on ,mount ,horeb or ,bencleugh1 the mind will learn1 from its own inner voice1 that the traces of ,jehovah are there--a ,power1 beyond and above1 that called these rude piles into being--the absence of all form and vitality in themselves the proof and the witness of the ,creator's mind and the ,creator's hand4 ,death cannot originate anything into life4 ,matter1 as matter1 cannot constitute nor begin of itself to be4 ,a scene like this could not now commence its own being1 and at no period in the past did it possess a single property of self-existence4 ,the entity and eternity of matter are1 therefore1 two physically impossible things1 as nothing but the one supreme intelligent ,god can be at once self-existent and eternal1 and that which is ,god cannot be material4 ,but1 if the reasoning here is bad1 the philosophy is still worse4 ,it is not philosophy at all to speak of anything in nature as unshapen4 ,matter is never presented to us in its simple elements4 ,what we see of the visible1 material world1 is something in combination with something else1 substance united with substance1 and the union and combination are not accidental or chancework4 ,there are law1 order1 and definite proportion in every compound body4 ,things go together by determinate arrangement4 ,when first summoned into being1 the elements of the universe had each separately their own communicated properties2 they took their places in the mass1 each according to their natures2 and now the little and the great1 the bowlder on the heath and the orbs on high1 the concrete rock and our whole planetary system1 are modeled upon a plan1 and all subservient to a purpose4 ,in decomposition none of them waste or decay4 ,resolved into their primary atoms1 they unite in new arrangements1 and collect into new bodies2 and in the putrid corrupting mass1 the law of order1 symmetry1 and beauty1 reigns in active operation1 eliminating new structures and establishing new harmonies4 ,men have long been acquainted with the fact1 that in all combinations of two or more substances1 there are certain proportions which obtain among the different ingredients1 and that the best mixtures are those which are regulated according to a scale4 ,the arts have flourished1 and improved in one age above those in another1 just in proportion as this principle has been attended to1 and the degree in which the properties of compounds have been ascertained4 ,we hence learn to imitate the crystal in its clearness1 and to rival the colors of gems and flowers4 ,the metals are thus tempered for the use and benefit of society4 ,the acids are neutralized1 and salts are formed1 and the health of man is restored or preserved4 ,dalton discovered the law of combination in definite and multiple proportions to be constant in the thin air we breathe--that water1 in all conditions and situations1 consists of the two ingredients oxygen and hydrogen1 and that these in weight are always as eight of the former to one of the latter--that even the most elastic gases are composed of particles of real1 ponderable1 definable matter--and that through all substances1 palpable or impalpable1 gross or ethereal1 the principle of aggregation1 according to the atomic theory1 is universal4 ,science has not1 indeed1 as yet determined what is the law of connection between the chemical composition and the crystalline forms of bodies2 although ,sir ,david ,brewster has clearly established that there is an exact correspondence between their optical properties and their crystalline forms1--the law of the transmission of light through specific substances4 ,sir ,isaac ,newton had long before cone to the conclusion--and from the heavens brought down a philosophy to explain the theory of the earth--that 8,all things considered1 it seems probable that ,god1 in the beginning1 formed matter in solid1 massy1 hard1 impenetrable particles1 of such sizes1 figures1 and with such other properties1 and in such proportion to space1 as most conduced to the end for which he formed them2 and that these primitive particles1 being solids1 are incomparably harder than any porous bodies compounded of them2 even so very hard as never to wear or break to pieces1 no ordinary power being able to divide what ,god made one in the first creation40 ,philosophy such as this1 verified1 much of it1 by an induction of rigid experiments1 discovers a universe of matter worthy of its author1 and like him--a ,god1 not of confusion1 but of order2 things framed1 every one of them1 according to rule and method1 and all stamped with the indelible impress of utility1 design and loveliness4 ,the 8unshapen0 has no place in the physical world4 8,it is not10 continues ,dr4 ,chalmers1 8from some matter being harder than others1 that we infer a ,god2 but when we behold the harder placed where it is obviously the most effective for a beneficial end1 as in the nails1 and claws1 and teeth of animals1 in this we see evidence of a ,god40 ,now1 this is precisely what has been done in the construction and disposition of the several parts of our planet4 ,the hardest matter is placed where it can subserve a beneficial end1 on the bottom of the sea1 the shores of a continent1 the hills that border the valleys of a country4 ,the framework of the globe is in itself of the most durable materials1 and these materials have been all so arranged as to render the earth solid1 fertile1 and beautiful diversity of climate1 combined with diversity of soil1 moisture1 and shelter4 ,these rocks may have been molten in the depths beneath2 but no innate powers of nature raised them unto mountains1 and separated the hard from the soft1 lifting the heavier substance into the highest places1 and scooping out the hollows for the lighter4 ,these are acts1 all of them1 of divine might1 directed to a purpose1 and what alone could render this world a fitting abode for living things4 ,wonderfully made are all the creatures of our earth1--every bone1 sinew1 and muscle in its appropriate place--and so constructed as best to perform their respective functions4 ,but equally wonderful the adjustment and adaptation1 through all its parts1 of that earth on which they are domiciled1 and which ministers so admirably to the various wants and requirements of its diversified tribes of plants and animals4 ,not more significant of design1 nor more effective for a beneficial end1 the bony heads and enameled scales of the finny inhabitants of the period1 the cephalaspes and holoptychii of the stratified rocks1 than the indurated texture of the traps as a solid casement in which their waters were to be retained1 and a storehouse of well-assorted materials1 whence substance and nutriment were to be extracted for the land4 ,the argument1 in short1 so far as fitness and utility are concerned1 is one and the same in both classes of objects--the house and its inmates alike illustrative of contrivance and skill--equally eloquent in praise of the artist's mind or the artist's hand4 ,and in this way it is1 that the story of our earth should be read1 and the course of creation should be traced4 ,in the first ordering of things1 we see the interposition of a great ,first ,cause2 and the farther back we go in our geological researches1 the more closely do we discern the chain that connects our globe1 and all that is in it1 with the throne of the ,eternal4 ,the everlasting hills1 we are constantly reminded in ,scripture1 are the witnesses of his power4 ,they are appealed to as the evidences of his ever-active1 ever-sustaining presence4 ,what wonderful manifestations of his might and wisdom have they been called to testify6 ,mount ,ararat1 the symbol of his saving interposition--,mount ,sinai1 for the giving of the law1 and surrounded with the thunder and terror of his great name--,horeb1 proclaiming his mercy and the gentleness of his love--,gilboa1 drenched in the blood of his swift vengeance--,hermon1 a token of the minuteness of his care and the sweetness of his grace--,tabor1 ,olivet1 and ,calvary6 scenes of the mystery of incarnation and awful purity of inflexible justice4--,and these very hills and mountains around1 standing memorials through all ages and their revolutions1 that at his bidding they arose1 and by his sustaining agency they are still upheld and preserved on high4 ,we regard as utterly untenable the doctrine1 therefore1 that from the 8entity0 of matter we cannot infer the existence of a ,god4 ,matter1 as mere matter1 we do not see1 and know nothing of4 ,all the matter that is brought under our notice1 is either organized or elaborated into arrangement and disposition of parts1 as nicely harmonized and adjusted as organic shape and form4--,the organic and inorganic structure may differ1 but the difference is one of degree1 as much as of kind4 ,the argument1 from the existence and composition of the atmosphere1 the salubrious mixture of gases in the formation of water1 the capacity and adaptation of soils for the germination of seeds and the growth of plants1 is equally pointed as to the proof of design and beneficial end1 as that which is derived from the fleece of the sheep1 the feathers of the bird1 and the silicious coating of the wheat-stalk4 ,the uses of these things are obvious1 and seen and appreciated at once4--,but so is every molecule of matter and aggregation of rock1 in the largest amorphous mass as in the polished crystallized gem1 assimilated by law and indurated for use4 ,and when we see the structure of the entire globe so directly conducive to the well being of its numerously diversified families1 we have the argument the same in the ,,whole as in the parts1 in the lumpish mass as in the order and symmetry of the bones1 muscles1 and organs of the animal frame4 ,but for these hills the rain would fall perniciously1 and the dews distill in vain4 ,of what use the return of the seasons1 with no variety of climate8 and while the ocean encompassed the globe1 where would be the courses of the rivers1 the mists and exhalations of the valleys8 ,we may often mistake the uses of things1 the end and purpose of particular arrangements2 but the doctrine of ,,final ,,causes we ought never to leave out of our calculations4 ,they pervade all nature4 ,they permeate all bodies4 ,the world as constituted1 the creation which we contemplate and admire1 is in all its parts and dispositions a system of means and ends1 a combination of instruments end skillfully-balanced agencies1 a bright ever-discoursing record of the ,eternal ,mind1 which yet shrouds itself in light inaccessible and utterly unfathomable to the comprehension of all created1 finite intelligences1 whether human or angelic4 ,thus geology takes us up to the beginnings of creation--shows us the ingredients and arrangements of matter--lays bare the foundations of our earthly dwelling1 the divisions and conveniences of its apartments--and seeing wisdom in adaptation1 design in endurance and suitability1 we infer1 upon equally irresistible grounds1 that the earth is of ,god1 and manifests in everything the perfections of its ,author4 ,the ,,scheme of creation1 in all its parts and relations1 we may never know2 its course and order we can distinctly trace through many of its arrangements4 ,illustration3 ,relative ,positions of ,trap4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,carboniferous ,,system--,,period ,,of ,,gigantic ,,vegetables4 ,the system of rocks termed the ,carboniferous constitutes the most remarkable1 as well as the most valuable1 group in the whole range of geological investigation4 ,the strata of which this system is composed1 evince design in the clearest and the most unequivocal manner1 testifying to the mandate given on the third day of ,creation1 that the earth was to bring forth grass1 the herb yielding seed1 and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind2 and which1 in the prodigious development of vegetable matter that so early and rapidly ensued1 demonstrate such productive powers of nature to have been chiefly prospective1 and preparatory to the still higher development of life that was to follow4 ,milton has finely imagined a tradition in heaven1 long subsisting1 concerning the creation of a new world1 and of man for whose habitation it was intended3 8,space may produce new worlds1 whereof so rife1 ,there went a fame in heaven1 that ,he ere long ,intended to create1 and therein plant ,a generation1 whom his choice regard ,should favor equal to the sons of heaven2 ,the happy seat ,of some new race1 called ,man40 ,the idea here so beautifully expressed is1 that the cosmical arrangements of the earth were1 from the beginning1 so conducted as to be subservient to man's well-being2 and1 certainly1 nothing could show more the dignity of the new race1 or the interest taken in them by their ,creator1 than this tradition which ran of them in other spheres4 ,but geology1 more to be relied on than poetry1 furnishes demonstrative evidence of the anterior designs and purposes of ,omnipotent ,wisdom in actually fitting up 8the happy seat10 and in storing it beforehand with materials suited to the wants and comfortable subsistence of him who was to be its loftiest inhabitant4 ,the coal-metals1 in the discovery of their history and position1 alone vindicate the importance of geology as a science4 ,the whole group with which they are associated1 in their mineral and vegetable contents1 their place in the system1 and the means provided at once for protection and excavation1 manifest a series of contrivances so expressive of design1 as cannot fail1 when read aright1 to draw forth our gratitude and wonder4 ,i4 ,,the ,,mineral ,,ingredients1 ,,position1 ,,and ,,arrangement ,,of ,,the ,,carboniferous ,,system4--,the rocks belonging to this formation1 in the order of superposition1 succeed the old red sandstone1 consisting of a series of deposits of great thickness1 of an infinite number of alternations and varieties1 and nearly the same in every coal-field all over the earth4 ,they constitute one great group of marked physical characters1 formed under similar conditions1 and produced during the same epoch or period of time4 ,the out-crop of the beds meets the eye along the ridge of which the ,lomonds may be taken as the center1 ranging eastward by ,st4 ,andrews to ,fifeness ,point1 and extending indefinitely westward by ,stirling1 ,campsie ,hills1 ,port-,glasgow1 to the coast of ,arran4 ,the southern lip of the great coal basin of ,scotland stretches from the ,german ,ocean1 near ,dunbar1 to the ,ayrshire coast in the ,north ,channel1 flanked by the old red sandstone and ,silurian rocks almost continuously throughout4 ,and within the space now indicated are situated all the principal coal-fields of the northern part of the empire4 ,the lower beds of the formation consist generally of coarse-grained sandstone1 termed by the ,english geologists millstone grit1 and inclose a few thin unworkable seams of coal4 ,bands of ironstone1 shale1 and sandstone are superimposed in repeated alternations4 ,a thick massive limestone lines the edges1 feathering in and out through the area of the basin which contains the coal metals4 ,this is the mountain limestone1 the most of which is supposed to have once existed as coral reefs1 raised on the bottom of shallow seas1 so subdivided as to form suitable compartments for receiving and retaining the matter of the coal4 ,accordingly1 corals1 encrinites1 and shells everywhere prevail in the rocks of this deposit1 and1 in some instances1 present the appearance of a homogeneous1 agglutinated mass of the remains of these marine animals--the first of living creatures which the waters were charged to bring forth1 and with which they were now swarming4 ,the bituminous beds1 the true coal1 generally occupy a central position in the group1 firmly caked and inclosed between the arenaceous and shaly strata4 ,the number of seams vary in different basins1 ranging in ,scotland from eleven to thirty-two or thirty-three1 and comprising an average thickness of the useful mineral of a hundred and twenty feet4 ,the varieties of coal--as anthracite or blind-coal1 cannel or parrot1 and the common house or glance-coal--are occasioned chiefly by the different proportions of the bituminous elements which enter into their composition4 ,compared with ,scotland1 the coal-measures of ,england and ,wales are of a greater average thickness1 lie far beneath the surface1 and contain in general a greater proportion of bitumen4 ,the basin containing the coals1 as defined above1 is inclosed within the great chains of primary and secondary mountains of the central district of ,scotland1 which were upheaved into dry land before the coal-measures were formed4 ,a period of violent disturbance had thus passed away1 when the carboniferous formation bears evident tokens of having been begun and completed in tranquil waters4 ,but after being collected1 the coal-metals were exposed to the action of disturbing forces3 eruptive masses1 of igneous origin1 have invaded their domain2 basalts and greenstone1 trap dykes and veins1 are everywhere found within their inclosure2 and apparently the utmost disorder and irregularity now reign1 where order and stillness once prevailed4 ,but look a little closer3 examine the length and breadth of any coal-field in any part of the world1 and you will discern proofs of a purpose1 not only in the quality of their materials1 but in the position1 arrangement1 and grouping of the metals2 those very disturbing forces1 to which they and all earthly things have been exposed1 giving unequivocal testimony of an overruling intelligence continuing1 through all ages1 to superintend and guide their various operations4 ,study any coal-field in your neighborhood1 and observe the place of the mineral4 ,it does not lie exposed upon the surface1 but is placed at a considerable depth in the earth2 of which many are apt to complain1 thinking that1 if a different arrangement had prevailed1 much needless labor and expense would have been saved4 ,but the constituent elements of coal are such1 that by exposure on the surface the mineral would1 in a comparatively short period of time1 have run to waste and decay4 ,even a thick covering of earthy mold would not have been sufficient to protect it2 and therefore was the treasure purposely hid in the earth1 and so inclosed that the floods could not wash it away4 ,then consider the quality of the rocks by which the coal is protected1 and along with which it is invariably associated4 ,these consist of limestone1 sandstone1 shale1 and clay ironstone1 which always occupy the same basins1 and alternate with the coal sometimes in a series of more than a hundred beds4 ,such a group of well-characterized rocks not only act as a guide for determining the localities of the valuable mineral1 but they serve the double purpose of facilitating the excavation1 by affording at once a safe roofing to the mine1 and an easy passage for the drainage of the water which accumulates in the pits4 ,no other class of rocks would have been so suitable4 ,the granite and crystalline rocks would have been inconvenient1 or wholly unfit3 no borings could have been effected through such materials to any extent2 the operations underneath would have been equally difficult and unmanageable2 and through such hard compact substances the drainage must have been impracticable4 ,but a still more remarkable indication of contrivance arises from the elevated and inclined position into which the coal strata have been thrown4 ,had they remained in the position which they originally occupied1 and been covered with the vast accumulations which have subsequently taken place1 their depth would have been utterly beyond the industry of man to have reached4 ,hence the waters have disappeared1 having accomplished the purpose for which they were1 in this instance1 spread over the earth1 and the rocks formed beneath them have lifted up their heads2 not uniformly1 or in one continuous unbroken mass1 but divided into small sections1 and inclined in every possible direction4 ,the wisdom of this appears from two considerations3 ,from their inclined position1 the various beds of coal are worked with greater facility than if they had been horizontal1 a level is produced for the drainage of the water1 and the edges of the coal bent upward are brought nearer the surface4 ,but these advantages are1 every one of them1 increased incalculably by the division of the coal-field into limited sections1 whereby less water is allowed to accumulate than if the beds had been indefinitely extended2 their lower extremities are prevented from being plunged to a depth that would be inaccessible2 and their several portions arranged in a series of tables1 like the steps of a stair1 rising one behind another1 and gradually inclining outward from the lower to the upper seams of the basin4 ,again1 every coal-field is furnished with a system of checks1 in the shape of faults or dykes1 against floodings1 fire-blaze1 and other accidents that occur in the operations of mining4 ,these faults or dykes consist of clay1 the detritus of the associated rocks1 or of intruded whinstone1 with which the fractures produced at the period of the disruption and elevation of the coal-field have been filled up1 and the various sections of the metal insulated1 and contracted to more workable dimensions4 ,they present the appearance of a vertical wall1 cutting the strata at right angles2 and1 though often occasioning much inconvenience and interruption1 yet1 as every experienced collier well knows1 forming upon the whole his greatest safeguard1 and essential every way to his operations4 ,to all which add1 as constants in every coal-field1 the minerals of lime and iron1 gifts1 both of them1 of inestimable value3 the former in the amelioration of the soil and construction of every social edifice2 the latter ductile and plastic as wax1 capable of being welded1 and yet1 by a slight chemical change1 possessed of adamantine hardness2 and the coal always there1 in juxta-position1 to serve as a fuel for the reduction of the limestone and ironstone into their economic properties--properties starting into agency as if by a miracle4 ,these are a few of the facts connected with the arrangement and distribution of the coal-measures1 in whatever quarter of the globe they are found4 ,is it possible to resist the conclusion1 that1 in such a disposition of things1 there are the clearest indications of contrivance and design8 ,nay1 that the argument derived from the construction and positions of the solid parts of the earth is the same in kind1 if not in degree1 with that which is so irresistibly demonstrative in the case of the organic structure of the living frame8 ,the dance of atoms imagined by the philosopher of antiquity1 could never have terminated in the perfect order and harmony of the heavenly bodies--innumerable systems of worlds maintained1--each hung upon nothing1 and duly preserved all of them in their respective spheres4 ,equally impossible is it to contemplate a disposition of things so adapted1 and indeed so indispensable1 for availing ourselves of the mineral treasures of the earth--essential to our wants1 and ministering so directly to our social comfort and improvement--and yet to refer the whole1 or any part1 to the blind operation of fortuitous causes4 ,impossible1 indeed1 it ever will be1 for the human mind to embrace or unravel all the mysteries of creation2 but thus admitted to the mighty wonders of the interior1 we are almost enabled to trace the history of the moving atoms from their chaotic disorder into their places and arrangement in the visible universe--to see dead matter assuming the forms of life and organization--clothing the earth for a season with luxuriance and beauty--buried for ages under the solid rock--and again1 out of coldness and death1 affording light1 and warmth1 and power to the successive generations of men4 ,,ii4 ,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,carboniferous ,,rocks4--,the strata comprised within the coal-measures are variously estimated2 being1 in some instances1 about eleven thousand feet in thickness2 in other cases1 of much greater depth2 and of this mass of matter1 the coal itself does not occupy more than a maximum average of one hundred and fifty feet4 ,the shales consist of thin beds of mud1 washed down by the rivers from the neighboring heights1 and would appear to have formed the soil on which subsisted a rank vegetation2 the impressions of plants1 roots1 and trunks of trees being still found in a standing position4 ,it is from these bands of mudstone that the best specimens of the flora of the period are derived2 every thin splitting presenting the most entire and beautifully-preserved figures of fronds and stems4 ,the ironstone is usually mixed up or associated with the shales1 and consists1 like them1 of comparatively thin beds of ferruginous clay4 ,the sandstones1 of which the greater proportion of the mass consists1 have clearly resulted in the continued action of the same causes that produced the old red deposit of the anterior period4 ,but the two remarkable products of the age are the calcareous and coaly strata1 which give character to the system as well as the epoch in which they were formed2 the one showing a sudden development of carbonate of lime1 and the other an increase of vegetable matter1 whose enduring monuments point them out as the most striking cotemporaneous and co-extensive formations on the surface of the globe1 or connected with the history of our planet4 ,the bituminous products of the ,silurian period1 if the anachronism may be pardoned1 are but as the gleanings after the full harvest4 ,the limestone is unquestionably of marine origin1 as the countless myriads of testacea inclosed in it testify1 and was probably constructed by the primeval families of those island-making architects by which the coral-reefs of our present seas are raised1 and whose instincts have found them similar employment in all ages of the world4 ,the limestones of the earlier systems may have been formed in the same manner2 and then1 as in the subsequent period1 we must go to the great original storehouse of ,nature for the materials on which they worked4 ,the spoils of the primary rocks could not supply them1 as the quantity of the carbonate of lime therein contained bears no proportion to the masses which constitute the mountain limestone group4 ,but the calcareous substance was already1 in some elementary form1 in combination or otherwise1 in existence--the animals capable of secreting and arranging it anew1 as the secondary instruments of creation1 were abounding in the seas--shallow bottoms over the subjacent sandstones of the devonian system1 and within the required conditions of life1 were prepared for their operations4 ,the waters had now brought forth abundantly the moving creatures1 which1 at first more scantily distributed1 produced the limestone of the silurian rocks1 as the arborial remains of the land1 in like stinted measure1 are inclosed in the older palozoic deposits4 ,their day of increase as it advanced1 each after their kind1 is recorded in the vast accumulations of animal and vegetable matter which compose the strata of the carboniferous system1 both of an order and quality purposely so arranged1 and never upon the same scale of magnitude to be repeated in the combustible mineral4 ,this account1 as given by geologists1 of the origin of the mountain limestone1 is rendered not only probable1 but almost certain1 by the manner in which we find these little insects1 the coral-builders1 constructing their piles of masonry at the present day4 ,for example1 certain species of polyps1 of solitary habits1 work alone1 each rearing a single stem or stalk1 from which others project2 then more stems are produced1 until1 upon the completion of the whole1 there results one of those beautiful arborescent structures so much prized as ornaments for cabinets and drawing-rooms4 ,some1 again1 attach themselves to the loose stones1 upon which they form their little tree or flower-top2 others adhere to the solid rock1 from which there springs a stony vegetation1 rivaling often1 in variety1 luxuriance1 and brilliancy1 the most showy vegetable productions of tropical climes4 ,but a certain class are gregarious1 and will only work in company4 ,myriads of these inhabit the ,pacific1 constructing entire islands1 and throwing up mighty barriers of rock1 and threading over vast areas of the sea with inosculating lines of coral reef4 ,the calcareous accumulation1 known as the ,great ,barrier ,reef1 extends for about a thousand miles in length1 by about thirty in mean breadth1 filling up1 with its various reticulations1 the whole intermediate space betwixt the coast of ,australia and ,bristow ,island1 off the coast of ,new ,guinea4 ,the works of these minute creatures thus occupy an area which may be roughly estimated at thirty thousand square miles2 the different branches forming compartments of variable extent1 which are divided into linear1 outer1 and inner reefs1 and embracing within their ample folds the entire spoils of ocean living or floating in these parts4 ,the mountain limestone of our own country1 formed in like manner on the sea-bottom of corallines1 has a wide geographical range1 extending from the bay of ,st4 ,andrew's on the north1 to the extremity of ,wales on the south2 passing into ,ireland1 where it is elevated into long ridges1 or occupies the mountain-slopes2 and forming outliers or extended barriers in all the southern counties of ,scotland1 and in the greater portion of the northern1 the middle1 and the south-western districts of ,england4 ,these were the coral reefs of an ocean now raised into dry land1 divided1 too1 into outer and inner compartments1 or arranged into systems of lines and branches1 which diverged from or inosculated with each other4 ,nor does the resemblance between the recent and the more ancient formations stop here1 but extends to the structure of the deposits1 lithologically considered1 the mechanical1 sub-crystalline1 and crystalline texture being exhibited in both sets of rocks4 ,thus1 in the examination of ,heron ,island1 the coral beds1 one to two feet thick1 are found to have a tendency to split into slabs1 and joints are observed to cross each other at right angles1 parallel to the dip and strike1 respectively1 giving to the still living coral rock the jointings1 cleavage1 and stratification of the greater palozoic deposits4 ,naturalists divide these polyps into existing and extinct races4 ,but whether extinct and specifically different1 or otherwise1 they are creatures of a family1 possessed of the same habits and performing the same operations1 now as of old2 and if1 as geologists say1 millions of ages have elapsed between the actings of the first and last generations1 our admiration will be only all the more unbounded by thus witnessing the harmony of creation through indefinite time1 and the accuracy of the ,book which contains the record of it4 ,the coal itself1 as now universally admitted1 is of vegetable origin4 ,under the microscope1 in the most compact specimens1 the tissues by which all the coal plants are more or less distinguished can be distinctly traced4 ,chemically considered1 its vegetable origin is equally well established4 ,carbon constitutes the principal ingredient of the mineral the quality of which enters most abundantly into the composition of vegetables4 ,one theory of its formation is1 that vegetable matter1 carried to the sea or extensive lakes1 has undergone a process of decomposition1 by which1 while some of its principles may have escaped or been evolved in new combinations1 the carbon1 with a portion of the hydrogen1 has remained2 this1 mixed with more or less earthy matter1 has in its soft state been consolidated by the force of aggregation simply1 or by compression from the superincumbent strata1 and the action of a higher degree of temperature than now exists4 ,others are of opinion that coal is the altered residuum of trees and smaller plants that have grown on the spot where we now find them--that the forests were submerged and covered by detrital matter1 which was upraised to form a foundation and a soil for another forest1 to be in its turn submerged and converted into coal--and that thus the alternations which the vertical section of a coal-field exhibits are to be accounted for4 ,the former views are maintained by ,sir ,r4 ,murchison and other eminent geologists4 ,the latter have been adopted by ,sir ,charles ,lyell1 in consequence mainly of the arrangements and structure observed in the remarkable coal-field of ,nova ,scotia1 where he states that there is a range of perpendicular cliffs in the ,bay of ,fundy1 composed of regular coal-measures1 inclined at an angle between twenty-four and thirty degrees1 whose united thickness is between four and five miles4 ,by neither theory1 perhaps1 nor by any other yet advanced1 is it possible to reconcile all the appearances which that singular compound1 a ,,coal-,,field exhibits--the various changes which the vegetable matter has undergone to convert it into lignite1 jet1 common coal1 cannel coal1 and anthracite1 two or more of these varieties often occurring in the same coal-measures--in one quarter the clearest indications that the sea has let in its floods and mingled its spoils with those of the land1 and in another quarter1 through fourteen thousand feet1 for example1 of the drift accumulations in ,nova ,scotia1 that there is not a trace even of any substance of a marine character1 all appearing to have been deposited in fresh water4 ,but while no explanation yet given of the phenomena can be regarded as satisfactory1 while ,nature withholds much1 and ever will1 of the wonderful processes through which she attains her ends1 the vegetable source of the product cannot be questioned2 nay1 the origin of coal from the extinct forests1 from the trees and plants of a former age1 is so very probable1 that some beds sound like wood under the beat of the hammer2 and large areas1 when thin slices are placed under the microscope1 are found in every portion to retain the woody-fibrous structure4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,botanical ,,characters of the flora of the coal period form of themselves an interesting subject of study1 and suggest some very important considerations as to the history and purpose of the formation4 ,these will be best understood by a reference to the structure and habits of plants in general4 ,those of the coal1 it will thence be seen1 belong exclusively to one or two families1--as ferns1 palms1 and conifer1--which seem to have grown in every soil1 and to have been adapted to every climate4 ,the most general divisions of existing plants are into the vasculares and cellulares4 ,the former kinds all bear flowers1 possess a system of spiral vessels1 and are termed phonogamous4 ,the latter1 on the other hand1 are flowerless1 have no spiral vessels1 and are denominated cryptogamous4 ,another extensive subdivision of plants proceeds upon their anatomical structure1 and the laws which regulate their mode of growth4 ,thus one class1 it has been observed1 increase in bulk by additional increments to the outside of all the parts which compose the plant1 as the roots1 stems1 and branches2 another1 by additions to the inside of all these members3 and for this reason the former are called exogenous1 and the latter endogenous4 ,in the one case the new or youngest growth is always exterior to the old2 and if thus left unprotected1 it will be readily admitted that the growth of all such plants would be greatly and constantly endangered by atmospheric as well as innumerable other causes4 ,the remedy provided by nature against this1 is a covering of the substance called bark1 which is folded round the entire exterior1 stem and branches1 of the whole exogens1 and within which the newly-formed tissue is all safely deposited4 ,no plant1 on the other hand1 whose growth is from within1 needs any such protection1 and accordingly none of them--as all the grasses1 corns1 canes1 and fungi--are possessed of bark1 or any analogous membrane4 ,the bark is an ephemeral substance1 which lasts only for a year1 and has annually to be renewed4 ,the additions to all exogenous plants are indicated in the stem or trunk1 by concentric lines or circles4 ,in the center there is a cellular substance called pith4 ,when you take1 therefore1 a cross section of the trunk of this class1 the structure and parts will be arranged thus--bark on the outside1 pith in the center1 and between these1 concentric deposits of woody matter1 and all connected into a solid mass by plates of comb-like tissue1 radiating from the interior to the circumference1 and termed medullary rays4 ,a structure like this1 so closely and firmly united1 and filled up through all its parts1 was surely intended for endurance2 and yet out of this class of the vegetable tribes1 nature has selected few of her carboniferous models4 ,the plants of the period1 as yet detected1 are composed chiefly of cellular tissue1 mixed up with the substance of the stem1 and without pith1 medullary rays1 concentric woody deposits1 or the binding ligament of bark4 ,the hardy oak and tall slender cane may be taken as examples of the two modes of structure--the former allied to existing1 the latter to extinct families4 ,another ground of distinction among plants consists in the leaves or flattened expansions1 from which they derive all their grace and symmetry4 ,this is farther connected with the seed and rudimentary organs1 and gives rise to the division into cotyledonous and acotyledonous plants4 ,the non-flowering or cryptogamous are all of the latter kind4 ,the flowering or phonogamous not only belong to the former1 but are again subdivided into monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous1 according as their seed-vessels are possessed of one or of two lobes4 ,where there are two lobes the expansion of the germ upon bursting from the ground terminates in two imperfect leaves1 by which the botanist can at once determine the class to which it belongs4 ,the corns and grasses have single cotyledons1 from one extremity of which descend the roots1 and from the other the stem springs up1 terminated with a single leaf4 ,the leaves perform important functions in all those orders of plants with which they are connected1 and serve as interesting guides in fossil botany1 which seldom derives any assistance from the more destructible and 8fleeting flower40 ,the leaves of plants consist of a complicated net-work of vessels1 filled up in the interstices by cellular tissue1 and covered over with a thin epidermis or skin4 ,those belonging to the monocotyledonous sub-class are traversed by a number of parallel veins1 while dicotyledonous leaves are divided into regular compartments1 some of which upon withering display the most perfect and beautiful system of reticulation1 rivaling in delicacy of texture the wing of the gossamer4 ,leaves which outlast the season1 as in evergreens1 are termed non-deciduous1 and are covered or interwoven with a thin crust of silex1 which at once serves to protect and communicate to these ornamental shrubs their bright enameled appearance4 ,the grasses possess this property1 and some of them can elaborate in their joints crystals of considerable magnitude4 ,the leaves of ferns are called fronds1 and differ from true leaves in bearing the reproductive organs on the surface1 while the slightest inspection of their form and mode of expansion readily distinguishes them from all others4 ,fronds1 properly so termed1 originate in the stem and are part of it2 there is no distinct line of demarkation between them3 stem1 leaf1 and spori1 or seed2 are all as one body2 and thus1 as being of one piece1 these membranous organs have been quaintly likened to a garment without a seam4 ,from this brief description it will be seen that all plants and trees arrange themselves under two great classes1 namely1 the soft and spongy1 or the hard and fibrous-woody structure4 ,the remains of such as have been detected in the carboniferous rocks belong almost exclusively to the former class1 the cryptogami and endogen1 while of the three hundred and upward of fossil species which have been described and figured1 not more than ten1 and some of these still of doubtful characters1 can be regarded as of exogenous and true woody growth4 ,ferns1 mosses1 palms1 and gigantic succulent plants1 now all allied to those of tropical climates1 constitute the vast preponderancy of the fossil flora of the age in question4 ,are we to infer from this that the other families and tribes which at present so abundantly cover the earth were not then in existence8 ,the botanist can now refer to his catalogue of eighty to a hundred thousand species of existing plants1 growing in the different regions of the globe1 and of widely distinguished habits and forms2 and were few or none of these in being then8 ,we possess not1 as yet1 sufficient data for the solution of this very interesting problem1 although in the progress of geological discovery1 every year is adding to the list1 and giving us a more extended acquaintance with the vegetable products of the coal period4 ,an important experiment recently made by ,professor ,lindley would seem to favor the probability that a far more numerically abundant flora had then existed4 ,one hundred and seventy plants were thrown into a vessel containing fresh water1 and among them were species belonging to all the natural orders of which the flora of the coal-measures consists1 and also to other natural orders which it might have been expected would be found associated with them4 ,in the course of two years1 one hundred and twenty-one species had disappeared1 being entirely decomposed1 and of the fifty which remained1 the most perfect specimens were those of coniferous plants1 ferns1 palms1 lycopodiace1 and the like--the families1 all of them1 most allied to those preserved in the coal-measures4 ,now the important fact to be attended to in this experiment is1 the wide geographical distribution during the carboniferous era of those tribes of plants which enter most certainly and abundantly into the composition of the coal metals4 ,many others may1 and doubtless did1 flourish within the period of the formation4 ,but that the plants1 possessed of the most conservative vegetable qualities1 and the most capable of resisting solution in water1 should be precisely the kinds which had then a universal range over the earth's surface1 can be ascribed to nothing else than to a wise predetermined purpose and arrangement4 ,these plants were growing in every region4 ,every clime favored them--every soil nourished them4 ,the bituminous product was intended for man's use1 whose family was destined to inhabit the whole earth4 ,how irresistible the conclusion1 corroborative of all the proofs of design derived from the nature and structure of the coal-measures1 that1 anticipating his wants and providing for his improvement1 nature purposely constructed such forms of vegetable life1 possessed1 like the watch1 with a compensation balance so as to suit every condition1 and to thrive in every land2 or1 what is equally probable and consonant to the requirements of the problem1 that there was such a uniformity of climate and temperature1 and other chemical adjustments1 as were most adapted to the peculiar and prevailing vegetation of the period4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,organic ,,remains we proceed to consider more in detail1 where a remarkable contrast will be observed between the vegetable and animal types presented1 so far as they have been respectively fossilized and preserved4 ,the vegetables are nearly all of terrestrial1 the animals are as generally and predominantly of marine1 characters4 ,is this the result of blind chance1 or of contrivance and foresight8 ,the plants of the coal epoch consist chiefly of the cryptogamia1 and of these the ferns are the most abundant1 composing1 according to the estimate of ,m4 ,brongniart1 about two-thirds of the entire carboniferous flora4 ,illustration3 #a4 ,sphenopteris linearis2 #b4 ,pecopteris ,mantelli2 #c4 ,sphenopteris affinis4 ,the number of known existing ferns amounts to between seven and eight hundred1 of which about fifty species belong to ,great ,britain1 and upward of two hundred to the inter-tropical island of ,jamaica4 ,nearly two hundred fossil species have been discovered in the ,british coal strata alone4 ,the fossil genera most common to the district around1 and occurring in every section of the great valley of the ,scottish lowlands1 are cyclopteris1 neuropteris1 pecopteris1 and sphenopteris4 ,the shales and clay-ironstones in which these beautiful plants are detected1 are generally of a dark brownish color1 while the impressions are all of the deepest jet1 bringing out in lively contrast the complete cast of the fronds4 ,there is a great resemblance between the specimens of extinct ferns and the existing families of our filices1 now growing on every hill1 brae1 or mountain corrie2 and1 if this were all the difference1 nature would seem to have departed but little from her original models4 ,but the presumption is that most1 if not all1 the ferns of the coal era were trees which attained to a great height1 and similar to the tree-ferns now growing so abundantly in the islands of the ,pacific4 ,the decorticated stems and trunks are deeply indented with scars1 the markings1 it is supposed1 of the fronds which dropped from their feathery sides4 ,this inference is borne out by the additional circumstance1 that the fossils are generally much flattened and compressed1 as would necessarily happen to succulent plants and such trees as consisted of the cellular tissue of the endogenous class4 ,what a striking change in the vegetation of our country1 where purple heaths1 and cheerful grasses1 and luxuriant corns1 and forests of every tint and structure1 have replaced the long green stems1 and dark somber hues of the fern-clad regions of the olden times6 ,the remains of this tribe are so numerous as to have stinted1 one would suppose1 or utterly to have prevented the growth and increase of every other order of plants1 bringing before the imagination the scenes of our ,australian colonies1 so wild and wondrous to ,european eyes--and carrying back the mind to the vision of primeval ages1 through a long succession of times and their events1 the vista of an infant world4 ,the lycopodia1 or club-moss tribe1 are also very widely distributed among the coal-measures1 and attained in the earlier ages of the earth's history an equally gigantic size with the tree-ferns4 ,at the present day1 they are all weak1 prostrate plants1 of from two to three feet in length1 and1 following the same laws as the mosses and ferns1 they are most abundant in hot1 humid situations within the tropics1 and especially in the smaller islands4 ,as respects their botanical affinities1 the lycopodiums are intermediate between ferns and conifer on the one hand1 and ferns and mosses on the other2 related to the first of those families in the abundance of annular ducts contained in their axis1 and to the second in the whole aspect and outline of the stem of the larger kinds4 ,indeed1 so great is the resemblance between lycopodia and certain conifer1 that there is no other external character1 except size1 by which they can be distinguished2 and1 according to ,professor ,lindley1 it is1 at least1 as probable that some of those specimens detected in the ancient flora of the world1 which have been considered gigantic club-mosses1 are really and truly pines1 as that they are flowerless plants4 ,another family of fossil plants abundant in the coal formation are the calamites1 so named from their jointed reed-like structure4 ,they attained to the size of trees1 trunks upward of a foot in diameter being often met with1 but still of such a soft succulent texture as to maintain the character of being1 if reeds1 easily shaken by the winds4 ,these1 and various specimens of the palm tribe1 are to be found in every coal-field1 and often in such vast masses as to show that they constituted no inconsiderable proportion of the flora of the period4 ,palms now only flourish within the regions of the tropics1 where1 from their various properties1 as well as great productiveness as fruit-bearers1 they constitute the chief source of dependence to the inhabitants for all their supplies of the necessaries1 luxuries1 and medicines of life4 ,a single spathe of the date contains about #ab1jjj male flowers3 another species has been computed to have #bjg1jjj in a spathe1 or #fjj1jjj upon a single individual4 ,the spathe constitutes the raceme or flower-stem of the tree1 and on a single raceme of a ,seje palm1 ,humboldt estimated the flowers at forty-four thousand1 and the fruits at eight thousand4 ,when these magnificent productions of nature covered the plains and marshes of our northern climes1 there were no roaming tribes to gather their fruits1 inhale their fragrance1 or bask in their shades4 ,and yet they were not formed in vain4 ,buried in the rocks1 their collected remains now yield a product as useful and valuable to the human family--as contributive to intellectual improvement1 as they would have been to mere animal enjoyment4 ,the genus sigillaria1 one of the most common of the coal plants1 possessed the singular properties of being apparently hollow in the center1 yet with an inner woody axis floating in a woody succulent jelly1 and inclosed in a thick outer coating of bark4 ,the trunk is beautifully fluted with longitudinal parallel lines1 regularly arranged along the surface1 and dotted all over with small scars1 as if impressed by the leaves penetrating through the bark into the central woody axis4 ,the stigmari1 once supposed to be a distinct genus1 are now generally regarded as simply the roots of the sigillari2 they are1 for the most part1 found resting in their natural position1 in large clusters often2 and forming with their dense matted fibers a floor of considerable thickness1 on which1 season after season1 the leaves fell as the coaly matter accumulated4 ,this tree grew to an enormous size1 specimens of four feet in diameter by fifty feet in length being frequently met with2 traces of a vascular and fibrous structure can be observed in the stems--also the annular wood layers are sometimes beautifully defined2 and1 combined with a coating of bark of an inch in thickness1 the probability is1 that the sigillaria belonged to the exogenous class of vegetables4 ,illustration3 ,calamite4 ,but of all the plants found in the coal-measures1 the ,,conifer or pine tribe1 distinguished by their punctated woody tissue1 are the most interesting1 whether we consider their characteristic properties1 extensive distribution1 antiquity1 and consistency of habit through all the epochs and changes of creation4 ,unlike the tree-forms already noticed1 the pines grow now as they grew before1 inhabiting the same places1 and preserving the same appearances in bulk and figure4 ,in structure the conifer occupy a place intermediate between cellurares and vasculares1 connected with the former through the lycopodiums1 and with the latter by the myrice1 or aromatic gale tribe4 ,the scales of the cones are regarded by botanists as true foliage or reduced leaves1 and in this respect they approximate to the genus zamia1 of the order cycade1 where these organs are distinctly developed as carpellary leaves4 ,thus widely connected through the chain of vegetable life1 the fossil pines1 discovered in our coal-fields1 form also the most interesting link between the present and the remote past1 showing similar conditions of vegetable existence and forest landscape4 ,no class of plants have been more useful to man than the whole pine family2 none are more universal in their distribution over the face of the globe2 none are possessed of such powers of endurance1 existing through all time1 and natives of every part of the world1 from the perpetual snows of ,arctic ,america1 to the hottest regions of the ,indian ,archipelago4 ,these trees differ as remarkably in form as in size1 ranging through every gradation from the stinted juniper of the ,grampians to the stately cedars of ,lebanon4 ,and the fossil specimens1 huge in dimensions as those of ,craigleith are1 do not excel the existing races4 ,the araucaria1 or ,norfolk ,island pine1 attains a height of two hundred feet2 and in the ,oregon territory of ,north-,west ,america1 there are species of the fir tribe 7,p4 ,lambertiana and ,p4 ,douglasii71 which rise to even still more gigantic proportions4 ,figuratively1 it is said of the cedar1 that its branches shall cover the earth1 and in the shadow thereof all fowl of every wing shall dwell3 literally and truly we find1 that members of the same family have existed in all lands1 and flourished in the mountains through all ages4 ,compared with the present condition of things1 ,new ,zealand bears the most striking resemblance in the character of its vegetation to the flora of the ancient carboniferous age4 8,the number of species of plants at present known is #fcb1 of which #cad are dicotyledonous1 and the rest1 or #cah1 are monocotyledonous and cellular4 ,the number of monocotyledonous is very small in comparison with the cellular2 there are #gf species4 ,the grasses have given way to ferns1 for the ferns and fern-like plants are the most numerous in ,new ,zealand1 and cover immense districts4 ,they replace the gramine or grasses of other countries1 and give a character to all the open land of the hills and plains4 ,some of the arborescent species grow to thirty feet and more in height1 and the variety and elegance of their forms1 from the minutest species to the giants of their kind1 are most remarkable40#d ,these few types of the flora of the ancient world clearly indicate the course and progress of creation4 ,a dense vegetable covering already existed over all the earth4 ,no grasses1 indeed1 as yet are found to have clothed the plains4 ,but marsh plants grew luxuriantly in the waters4 ,fucoids and alg abounded in the seas4 ,the hills and mountains raised high in air their pines1 palms1 and fern-trees2 nor would creepers and parasites be wanting1 climbing to their topmost branches and mingling their bright enlivening hues with the dark somber shades of the forest4 ,earth heard the voice of its ,maker1 and everything good and seasonable sprang from its teeming bosom4 ,the carboniferous limestones are everywhere loaded with ,,animal remains4 ,every member of the series1 the ironstones1 sandstones1 shales1 and even the coal itself1 all abound in relics of the past2 and1 as was to be expected1 the fossils chiefly belong to marine forms of life4 ,and in these there is no great departure1 as might likewise be inferred1 from the orders1 and even generic types1 we have been surveying in the lower formations4 ,but there is an increase in the species of some of them1 as well as the introduction of new and distinct creations altogether4 ,illustration3 #a4 ,product4 scabriculus2 #b4 ,inoceramus vetustus2 #c4 ,bellerophon tangentialis4 ,thus the corals and encrinites remain with scarcely a change in outward form1 but of increasing variety1 and in countless myriads4 ,the trilobites are nearly extinct1 while the annelid1 which appear not in the devonian system1 return to the stage in greater numbers and diversity of structure4 ,the conchifer are likewise enlarged in every order2 as also the crustace1 which are more than quadrupled4 ,pteropod present four genera in the silurian group1 decline to one in the devonian1 which genus is not found in the carboniferous1 but a new one takes its place4 ,the brachiopod are again very abundant1 as they were in the two former groups4 ,the most characteristic shells of the order and period are the productus1 spirifer1 terebratula4 ,one genus of heteropoda1 the bellerophon1 appeared in the silurian rocks1 of which there were eleven species4 ,eight species occur in the devonian system along with a new genus1 porcellia4 ,the bellerophon numbers nineteen species in the carboniferous rocks1 and the porcellia1 which occurs also1 contains three4 ,the cephalopods1 the most predaceous of their kind1 lose generically1 while they multiply prodigiously in species during the latter epoch4 ,thus the goniatites alone amount to fifty-four1 the nautili to forty-two1 and the orthoceratites1 which had declined to twelve in the devonian1 swell to thirty-two species in the carboniferous series4 ,but the fishes in this group of rocks exhibit1 unquestionably1 the largest amount1 both in number and form1 of new types4 ,here the sharks and sauroids appear1 for the first time1 not small1 or attenuated in bulk1 but vigorous1 robust specimens of their kind1 strong and expert swimmers1 armed with enlarged destructive organs1 and every way equipped for maintaining the due proportion of numbers1 and the free trade of the ocean4 ,thus of the order of placoids1 there are twenty-eight genera1 and ninety-four species2 of ganoids there are five genera1 and twelve species2 and sauroids enumerate thirteen genera1 and twenty-four distinct and entirely new specific creations4 ,a specimen of reptilian life has here also been detected2 and what is of still greater theoretic importance1 in tracing the course of creation1 the immediately overlying sandstones have yielded up impressions of the winged tribes that 8fly in the open firmament of heaven40 ,this interesting fact will1 in its proper place in the order of superposition1 be more fully alluded to4 ,the genus holoptychius1 which began in the old red sandstone1 again occurs in the carboniferous system1 under eight new specific forms4 ,along with the megalichthys1 afterward noticed1 these constitute the two great natural families of fishes of carnivorous propensities1 which give a marked character to the period4 ,the prodigious increase of the shark-like creatures1 of which not less than sixty species have been described from thousands of teeth1 fins1 detached vertebr1 and other fragments1 is equally striking4 ,thus1 in all1 the faun of the carboniferous period amount to upward of a thousand species1 which have been either figured or described4 ,in contemplating the period of creation under review1 we are struck not more with the forms of life which actually existed1 than with the absence of races which were afterward so abundant4 ,no quadruped or true terrestrial animal is found so low in the series of rocks1 or mixed up in any way with all this profusion of marine exuvi4 ,fossil insects and indications of other winged tribes have been detected2 but no bone nor foot-print of beast1 or inhabitant of land1 has anywhere been discovered4 ,the fact is all-important1 as showing not only a plan1 but a progress and succession in the work of creation4 ,a vegetation1 so rank and luxuriant as has been traced1 trees towering hundreds of feet into the sky1 and branches of the densest foliage stretching on every side1 was amply fitted to afford shelter and food to families of terrestrial creatures of every kind4 ,but in the circumstance1 that during this period there were repeated alternations of marine and fresh water deposits1 and consequently repeated submergence and elevation of land1 we see a reason why the terrestrial races were not yet called into being4 ,great continents1 comparatively speaking1 did not exist2 and there was no ark of safety provided to float them over the billows4 ,race after race would have violently perished during every shift or subsidence of the sea bottom3 and hence1 until the carboniferous series was completed and a statical equilibrium established between the land and waters1 few or none of the races which afterward swarmed in our plains and forests were introduced upon the scene4 ,illustration3 ,fragment of ,encrinital ,limestone4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,geographical ,,distribution ,,of ,,coal--,,great ,,coal ,,field ,,of ,,pennsylvania1 ,,virginia ,,and ,,ohio--,,coal ,,deposits ,,of ,,illinois1 ,,indiana ,,and ,,kentucky--,,economic ,,history--,,conditions ,,of ,,formation4 ,considered mineralogically1 and now demonstrated beyond a doubt1 coal and the diamond are found to be one and the same in substance1 and nearly also in their modes of formation4 ,newton detected the properties of the diamond in its refractive power over the rays of light1 and inferred that1 like amber1 it was an unctuous body crystallized4 ,in the crucible he reduced it to a state of pure carbon1 burning1 volatilizing1 and resulting in the same elementary products as charcoal4 ,liebig goes a step farther1 and declares the diamond to be a crystalline residuum from decayed vegetables4 ,the action of fire could not produce the mineral1 but would rather have the effect of drawing out its inflammable tendencies4 8,science10 he adds1 8can point to no process capable of accounting for the origin and formation of diamonds1 except that of decay4 ,and there is the greatest reason for believing that they have been formed in a liquid40 ,sir ,david ,brewster1 in his beautiful optical analysis1 has arrived at the same general conclusions4 ,coal is also a product of vegetable decay1 collected and formed in a liquid4 ,it has not crystallized1 and therefore wants the sparkle and the luster of the diamond4 ,it retains all the carbon1 and more of the hydrogen1 and is in consequence infinitely more useful and valuable than even the precious gem4 ,it is carefully incased and preserved among the rocks of the earth1 and thereby in like manner akin to the glittering idol1 whose true habitat has been found to be the sandstones#e immediately overlying the carboniferous formation4 ,thus far the parallel can be traced between the two apparently very dissimilar and unequally prized minerals3 in extent of substance and geographical distribution1 the history of each stands apart4 ,i4 ,,the ,,geographical ,,distribution ,,of ,,the ,,coal ,,metals4--,our knowledge on this subject is increasing with every new geographical detail connected with the history of the earth4 ,until very recently the carboniferous system was supposed to be of very limited extent4 ,the return of every vessel1 engaged in a voyage of discovery or otherwise1 brings tidings of some new island or continent on which it is found4 ,the same tribes of plants and animals are everywhere observed to accompany the deposit--all presenting the same generic and often the same specific characters--and uniformly on the same great scale of development4 ,this circumstance alone bespeaks a universal formation1 when every region was capable of producing all the requisite conditions in climate1 vegetables1 corallines1 and sea-bottom1 and prepares the mind for the ready admission of the existence of the mineral in every unexplored quarter of the globe4 ,accordingly1 all the great continents of the old world abound in coal4 ,in ,russia1 the carboniferous system occupies1 betwixt the ,dnieper and the ,don1 an area of about eleven thousand square miles4 ,india1 ,china1 and the ,australian archipelago give up yearly more and more of the bituminous substance4 ,egypt is not destitute of the jetty mineral3 for recently beds several feet thick have been discovered near ,asuan1 on the right bank of the ,nile4 ,the vast continent of ,america has it in proportion to its own vastness4 ,and man1 go where he will with the knowledge of the arts1 and the diffusive blessings of religion and civilization1 will always find that a wise ,providence has anticipated his wants1 and prepared the treasure for his use4 ,the coal formation in ,scotland has been already traced as occupying the great central valley of the ,lowlands1 which separates the primitive crystalline and feldspathic rocks of the north from the silurian series of the southern border1 and traversing the mainland from sea to sea4 ,the middle and northern coal basins of ,england have an average uninterrupted stretch of about two hundred miles in length1 by forty in breadth4 ,the ,bristol and ,welsh coal-fields1 are also very extensive4 ,that of ,south ,wales forms an immense double trough1 comprised within a great oval elongated tract1 betwixt ,st4 ,bride's ,bay1 and ,pontypool1 with an anticlinal axis ranging east and west1 and embracing an area of one thousand and fifty-five square miles4 ,this is the largest coal-field in ,britain1 in which there are sixty-four seams of coal1 of all qualities1 from the highest bituminous to the purest anthracite1 and having an aggregate thickness of one hundred and ninety-feet4 ,in ,ireland the coal basins are comparatively small1 and isolated from one another3 the principal workable seams are in the counties of ,kilkenny1 ,tipperary1 ,cork1 ,tyrone1 and the northern extremity of ,roscommon4 ,the coal metals immediately present themselves on the ,french coast at ,boulogne1 more inland at ,mons1 and in the central district at ,st4 ,etienne1 betwixt the valleys of the ,loire and ,rhone4 ,this last basin is of small extent1 but possesses great geological interest from its position among the primary and metamorphic rocks1 and the materials of which the series is composed4 ,the metals are inclosed in a long narrow trough1 of about twenty-five miles by less than a mile at its greatest breadth4 ,granite1 gneiss1 mica-slate1 underlie them throughout3 instead of shales1 and sandstones of the usual kind1 the coals are imbedded in micaceous grit1 and the detrital alluvia of the crystalline rocks4 ,it has been described as a self contained repository1 with its own furnishings and equipments all1 as it were1 self-originating3 the vegetable matter is of native growth1 the trees are still vertical1 and in one part of the field present the appearance of a suddenly petrified forest2 the iron1 too1 is native1 and seems to have been actually smelted on the spot1 by subterranean self-combustion4 ,the coal1 underlying one of the bands of ironstone1 has undergone fusion1 and been changed into coke2 while sulphur and crystals of sulphate of lime have been separated in the crucible by the process of sublimation1 as if to complete this scene of marvels4 ,in the low countries1 at ,namur and ,liege1 and other places along the banks of the ,meuse--in ,germany1 ,silesia1 ,moravia1 ,poland1 the ,carpathian ,mountains--on the banks of the ,volga1 the ,dnieper1 and the ,don1 the coal-measures are found to occupy tracts of greater or lesser extent4 ,these are sometimes accompanied with the usual alternating series entire and unbroken1 sometimes with the absence of one or more members4 ,in ,russia the metals are imbedded in the middle mountain limestone series in one field1 while in another district they are situated in the lower part of the series1 or beneath the calcareous deposit1 as in the thin beds of ,fifeshire4 ,the ,liege coal-basin is of a remarkably complex structure--the metals lying in small hollows of contorted strata1 which are bent and twisted like a sapling--elevated into every varying position and degree of inclination--and thus1 by obtaining cross or horizontal sections1 you pass repeatedly over the edges of the same beds4 ,an enterprising ,scotchman has long been lessee of one of these coal-fields1 out of whose iron bands he has molded cannon and ball for every nation in ,europe2 and whose locomotives1 forged from the same strata1 now ply in pleasure excursions along every railway of the ,netherlands and vine-clad banks of the ,rhine and ,moselle4 ,the ,american coal-fields1 like its interminable forests1 endless rivers1 and everything in that vast continent1 are all on the gigantic scale4 ,the basin of the ,mississippi1 extending from the ,rocky ,mountains to the ,alleghanies1 forms an area equal to two-thirds of the states of ,europe1 almost every part of which is covered with the carboniferous limestone1 supporting the coal metals and the newer palozoic rocks4 ,the great coal-field of ,pennsylvania1 ,virginia1 and ,ohio1 extends1 according to ,sir ,charles ,lyell1 continuously from north-east to south-west for a distance of #bjg miles1 its breadth being in some places #ahj miles4 ,the basin of ,illinois1 ,indiana1 and ,kentucky1 is not much inferior in dimensions to the whole of ,england1 while another coal deposit1 #agj by #ajj miles1 lies farther to the north1 between lakes ,michigan and ,huron4 ,mr4 ,logan1 in his report on the geology of ,canada1 states that the coal-measures occupy nearly the whole of ,new ,brunswick1 a great part of ,nova ,scotia1 ,cape ,breton island1 and the south-west district of ,newfoundland4 ,and in the most remote northern regions1 along the shores of the frozen sea1 and the various rivers and their tributaries which fall into it1 the carboniferous rocks with their inclosed beds of coal1 some of considerable thickness1 are found to prevail4 ,a single seam1 of an average thickness of ten feet1 occurs in ,pennsylvania1 in the district of ,pittsburgh1 covering a superficial extent of about #ad1jjj square miles2 which shows how inexhaustible the resources1 and how limitless the means1 of social advancement1 of progress in the arts and sciences1 garnered up for the generations to come in that mighty continent4 ,upon the authority of ,sir ,charles ,lyell we learn1 that all the floral fossil phenomena are substantially the same as in ,europe--a great preponderance of stigmari1 ferns1 lepidodendra1 and calamites--some consisting of trees in an erect position1 and of broken trunks1 with their rootlets attached1 and extending in all directions2 and the same grits or sandstones1 are found1 as those used for building near ,edinburgh and ,newcastle4 ,of forty-eight species of fossil plants or trees1 detected in the strata of ,nova ,scotia1 thirty-seven are identical with those discovered in the ,british beds2 and1 in the ,united ,states1 thirty-five out of fifty-three species are described as specifically the same with the ,european fossils4 ,but the most remarkable of ,sir ,charles's discoveries is that1 in the prodigious thickness and singular structure of the coal-basin in ,nova ,scotia1 there are the remains of more than ten forests which rose up successively one over the other1 and which1 with their interposed layers of clays and solid stone1 deposited at intervals1 constitute a series of beds1 whose vertical thickness is #ad1egj feet4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,economic ,,history ,,of ,,coal4--,it does not appear1 from any well authenticated records1 at what precise period man availed himself of this useful mineral1 either for the purposes of art1 or of domestic comfort4 ,the early history of nations is traditionary2 but there is no tradition from very remote times1 in any of them1 as to the discovery of coal--no philosopher speculating about the importance of the fact and its bearings on the progress of civilization--no poet extolling the genius of the new ,prometheus1 that brought up the fiery combustible from the bowels of earth4 ,the aborigines who dwelt amidst the primeval forests had no occasion to seek farther for fuel1 when every hill and plain supplied them with all that was needed1 and more than was convenient1 as the cultivation of the soil engaged attention4 ,accident1 doubtless1 would first lead to the knowledge of the virtues of the hidden treasure4 ,as the ground was cleared1 and cities became populous1 and the arts advanced1 more diligence would be exercised in its search2 and in proportion as it came1 from the destruction of the woods1 to be regarded as a necessary or luxury of life1 coal would be sought for as an article of barter1 or of commerce4 ,thus many ages might elapse before coal was introduced into general consumption1 and though stored up specially for man1 it was wisely ordered that the supplies and incumbrances on the surface should first be exhausted or removed1 ere the inner chambers of his habitation were broken into and explored4 ,bituminous matter1 if not the carboniferous system itself1 exists abundantly on the banks of the ,euphrates4 ,in the basin of the ,nile coal has been recently detected4 ,it occurs sparingly in some of the states of ,greece3 and ,theophrastus1 in his 8,history of ,stones10 refers to mineral coal 7lithanthrax7 being found in ,liguria1 and in ,elis1 and used by the smiths2 the stones are earthy1 he adds1 but kindle and burn like wood coals 7the anthrax74 ,but by none of the oriental nations does it appear that the vast latent powers and virtues of the mineral were thus early discovered1 so as to render it an object of commerce or of geological research4 ,what the ,romans termed lapis ampelites1 is generally understood to mean our cannel coal1 which they used not as fuel1 but in making toys1 bracelets1 and other ornaments2 while their carbo1 which ,pliny describes as 8vehementer perlucet10 was simply the petroleum or naphtha1 which issues so abundantly from all the tertiary deposits4 ,coal is found in ,syria1 and the term frequently occurs in the sacred writings4 ,but there is no reference anywhere in the inspired record as to digging or boring for the mineral--no directions for its use--no instructions as to its constituting a portion of the promised treasures of the land4 ,in their burnt-offerings1 wood appears uniformly to have been employed2 in ,leviticus1 the term is used as synonymous with fire1 where it is said that 8the priests shall lay the parts in order upon the wood1 that is1 on the fire which is upon the altar40 ,and in the same manner for all domestic purposes1 wood and charcoal were invariably made use of4 ,doubtless the ancient ,hebrews would be acquainted with natural coal1 as in the mountains of ,lebanon1 whither they continually resorted for their timber1 seams of coal near ,beirout were seen to protrude through the superincumbent strata in various directions4 ,still there are no traces of pits or excavations into the rock to show that they duly appreciated the extent and uses of the article4 ,their term 1 which properly signifies charcoal1 appears to have passed into the northern languages1 as in the ,islandic gloa2 the ,danish gloe2 the ,welsh glo1 a coal1 golen to give light2 the ,irish o-gual2 and the ,cornish kolan--terms all expressive of the act of burning or of giving light4 ,for many reasons it would seem that1 among modern nations1 the primitive ,britons were the first to avail themselves of the valuable combustible4 ,the word by which it is designated is not of ,saxon1 but of ,british extraction1 and is still employed to this day by the ,irish1 in their form of o-gual1 and in that of kolan by the ,cornish4 ,in ,yorkshire stone hammers and hatchets have been found in old mines1 showing that the early ,britons worked coals before the invasion of the ,romans4 ,manchester1#f which has risen upon the very ashes of the mineral1 and grown to all its wealth and greatness under the influence of its heat and light1 next claims the merit of the discovery4 ,portions of coal have been found under or imbedded in the sand of a ,roman way1 excavated some years ago for the construction of a house1 and which1 at the time1 were ingeniously conjectured by the local antiquaries to have been collected for the use of the garrison1 stationed on the route of these warlike invaders at ,mancenion1 or the ,place of ,tents4 ,certain it is1 that fragments of coal are being constantly1 in the district1 washed out and brought down by the ,medlock and other streams1 which break from the mountains through the coal strata4 ,the attention of the inhabitants would1 in this way1 be the more early and readily attracted by the glistening substance4 ,nevertheless1 for long after1 coal was but little valued or appreciated1 turf and wood being the common articles of consumption throughout the country4 ,about the middle of the ninth century1 a grant of land was made by the ,abbey of ,peterborough1 under the restriction of certain payments in kind to the monastery1 among which are specified sixty carts of wood1 and as showing their comparative worth1 only twelve carts of pit-coal4 ,toward the end of the thirteenth century1 ,newcastle is said to have traded in the article1 and by a charter of ,henry ,,iii1 of date #abhd1 a license is granted to the burgesses to dig for the mineral4 ,about this period1 coals1 for the first time1 began to be imported into ,london1 but were made use of only by smiths1 brewers1 dyers1 and other artisans1 when1 in consequence of the smoke being regarded as very injurious to the public health1 ,parliament petitioned the king1 ,edward ,i1 to prohibit the burning of coal1 on the ground of being an intolerable nuisance4 ,a proclamation was granted1 conformable to the prayer of the petition2 and the most severe inquisitorial measures were adopted to restrict or altogether abolish the use of the combustible1 by fine1 imprisonment1 and destruction of the furnaces and workshops6 ,they were again brought into common use in the time of ,charles ,i1 and have continued to increase steadily with the extension of the arts and manufactures1 and the advancing tide of population1 until now1 in the metropolis and suburbs1 coals are annually consumed to the amount of about three millions of tons4 ,the use of coal in ,scotland seems to be connected with the rise of the monasteries1 institutions which were admirably suited to the times1 the conservators of learning1 and pioneers of art and industry all over ,europe1 and in whose most rigorous exactions evidences can always be traced of a judicious and enlightened concern for the general improvement of the country4 ,under the regime of monastic rule at ,dunfermline1 coals were worked in the year #abia--;at ,dysart1 and other places along the coast1 about half a century later--and1 generally1 in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the inhabitants were assessed in coals to the churches and chapels1 which1 after the ,reformation1 have still continued to be paid in many parishes4 ,bothius records that1 in his time1 the inhabitants of ,fife and the ,lothians dug 8a black stone10 which1 when kindled1 gave out a heat sufficient to melt iron4 ,how long will the coal-metals of the ,british isles last at the present1 or even an increased expenditure of the fuel8 ,so great has been the discrepancy1 and so little understood the data on which to form a calculation1 that the authorities variously estimate from two hundred to two thousand years4 ,for home consumption the present rate is about ,,thirty-,,two ,,millions of tons annually4 ,the export is about ,,six ,,millions3 and yet such is the enormous mass of this combustible inclosed in one field alone1 that no boundary can be fixed1 even the most remote1 for its exhaustion4 ,the coal trade of ,great ,britain is nearly in the proportion of three to two of that of all the other nations of the world2 while in superficial area her coal measures are to those of the ,united ,states only as #aa1hei square miles to #acc1acb square miles4 ,what a vision of the future is hereby disclosed6 ,if rightly employed1 if the arts and progressive development of society at all keep pace with the means provided1 the human race in the ,new ,world have a destiny to run1 and a work of civilization to accomplish1 to which the ,old1 in its brightest achievements1 can furnish but a faint analogy4 ,scarcely two centuries have elapsed since coal was employed as an article of domestic use1 or introduced upon the most limited scale into the manufactures2 its now ascertained extent and boundless latent powers were not dreamt of or imagined even but half a century ago2 and very recently the lamentation was general1 that no coal-measures existed in the mighty continent of ,america4 ,who now can fancy a limit to the social movement with which that vast hemisphere is heaving all over--the advancing tide of its population spreading in every region--the forests cleared and covered with a net-work of railways1 the rivers bridged from end to end with a navy of steamships--and all vivified and in motion through the agency of this long undiscovered product of the earth8 ,geological time rolled on1 and the surface of our planet was replenished with the hidden treasure1 and the man of science has no numbers to reckon the years that are past4 ,more agreeable far to look through the vista of coming events1 where a moral era has commenced out of which a mightier series of phenomena will emerge1 the purposes of a wise ,providence be illustrated in so transmuting and preserving the entombed relics of distant ages1 and the glories of the latter day arise1 when the desert place shall teem with a new life1 and the wilderness give praise to the ,creator of all4 ,,iii4 ,universal1 and shall we add1 synchronous as a formation1 there is a very interesting question connected with this subject1 namely1 ,,is ,,coal ,,now ,,forming8 ,the general opinion among geologists leans to the affirmative side of the question1 and that here1 as in all the other cosmical arrangements going forward on the earth's surface1 time is the grand requisite4 ,the necessary agencies are all at work1 the other conditions are all admitted1 and in the course of some future untold ages a new bituminous product will arise1 similar in all respects to the old4 ,the subject and the conclusions arrived at are not1 however1 free of many and great difficulties1 to some of which we shall merely advert4 ,reverting to all the circumstances connected with the geographical distribution of the coal metals1 we are inclined to think that the era which produced them was not only peculiar in the wide geographical distribution of its families of plants1 but equally1 if not more so1 in its limitation of all those physical conditions which were necessary for their conversion into coal4 ,the basins1 it will be observed1 in which the vegetable matter was deposited1 were1 as compared with the existing ocean1 small and shallow2 for most of the plants and trees grew within their area or their immediate neighborhood1 and are still found in their erect position1 uninjured by roughing or transport in their smallest veinlets and even minute fructifications4 ,then it is highly probable1 that the great continents were not yet formed1 but that a series of islands1 barrier reefs1 and inland seas1 prevailed generally over the earth's surface1 being still chiefly oceanic4 ,consequently no great rivers could1 in such circumstances1 be in existence1 rolling down like the ,ganges1 ,nile1 and ,mississippi more stony detritus and mud than arborescent matter1 and all to be mixed and confounded in one indiscriminate mass4 ,atmospheric influences1 too1 must have been widely different from what they now are2 for all the cast-off apparel of a summer's luxuriance is1 we see year after year1 speedily dissipated by the droughts1 or absorbed back as humus into the earth1 and when spring returns the ground is parched and bare4 ,a difference of temperature must also be taken into the list of modifying causes2 for the plants1 during the coal era1 are nearly of a class--a few great types with little variety of structure--one and the same in every region--and approaching the characters1 most of them1 of the existing tropical flora4 ,the climate1 according to ,mr4 ,bunbury1 was characterized by excessive moisture1 by a mild and steady temperature1 and the entire absence of frost2 and it has been established by ,mr4 ,darwin's interesting observations on ,chiloe and other islands of the southern temperate zone1 that extreme heat is not necessary to the existence of a very luxuriant and quasi-tropical vegetation4 ,mr4 ,austen1 on the other hand1 thinks that the temperature of ,great ,britain has not much changed since the coal period1 because few of the fossil-ferns1 found in the coal-measures1 present any fructification1 while those in more southern latitudes possess it2 and1 by experiments made by himself1 it appears that the existing ferns of tropical climates would not fructify at a low temperature4 ,still1 the great general fact remains unquestioned1 that tree-ferns during the carboniferous age grew gigantically and in vast forests1 where they do not grow at present over all the zones of the earth2 and where now growing1 in three out of the four zones1 that the whole family are reduced to the size of small herbaceous plants4 ,now1 is it not a legitimate inference from all this1 that1 out of so many concurring circumstances1 not one of which is similar in all respects now1 a determinate effect was ,,intended to be produced1 and which cannot1 in the altered condition of things1 be produced again8 ,the argument is cumulative1 and bears the strongest presumptive evidence on its side4 ,the carboniferous series cannot be repeated--not for want of vegetable or animal matter1 for there is a hundred times more of both at present on the surface of the earth than perhaps ever existed in any former period--but because there are so many new causes now in operation1 so many changes in the relative position of sea and land1 to modify its distribution and qualities1 and to influence its place in the system generally1 that the same conservative arrangements and chemical appliances cannot occur1 nor any similar bituminous compound as a geological formation issue from ,nature's laboratory4 ,leonard ,horner1 in enumerating the difficulties connected with the formation of the coal deposit upon the theory of the whole of the matter1 vegetable and earthy1 being spread over the sea-bottom1 says--8,that the terrestrial vegetable matter1 from which coal has been formed1 has in very many instances been deposited in the sea1 is unquestionable1 from their alternations with limestones containing marine remains40 ,such deposits and alternations in an estuary at the mouth of a great river are conceivable2 but whether such enormous beds of limestone1 with the corals and molluscs which they contain1 could be formed in an estuary1 may admit of doubt4 ,but it is not so easy to conceive the very distinct separation of the coal and the stony matter1 if formed of drifted materials brought into the bay by a river4 ,it has been said that the vegetable matter is brought down at intervals1 in freshets1 in masses united together1 like the rafts in the ,mississippi4 ,but there could not be masses of matted vegetable matter of uniform thickness1 #ad1jjj square miles in extent1 like the ,brownsville bed on the ,monongahela and ,ohio 7the ,pittsburgh seam73 and freshets bring down gravel1 and sand1 and mud1 as well as plants and trees4 ,they must occur several times a year in every river2 but many years must have elapsed during the gradual deposit of the sandstones and shales that separate the seams of coal4 ,humboldt tells us 78,cosmos10 p4 #bie71--,that in the forest lands of the temperate zone1 the carbon contained in the trees on a given surface would not1 on an average of a hundred years1 form a layer over that surface more than seven lines in thickness4 ,if this be a well-ascertained fact1 what an enormous accumulation of vegetable matter must be required to form a coal-seam of even moderate dimensions6 ,it is extremely improbable that the vegetable matter brought down by rivers could fall to the bottom of the sea in clear unmixed layers2 it would form a confused mass with stones1 sand1 and mud4 ,again1 how difficult to conceive1 how extremely improbable in such circumstances1 is the preservation of delicate plants1 spread out with the most perfect arrangement of their parts1 uninjured by the rude action of rapid streams and currents1 carrying gravel and sand1 and branches and trunks of trees80 ,nor1 according to ,mr4 ,horner1 are the objections to the lacustrine theory1 requiring so many oscillations of land and water1 of less magnitude4 8,in the theory10 he says1 8which accounts for the formation of beds of coal1 by supposing that they are the remains of trees and other plants that grew on the spot where the coal now exists1 that the land was submerged to admit of the covering of sandstones or shale being deposited1 and again elevated1 so that the sandstone or shale might become the subsoil of a new growth1 to be again submerged1 and this process repeated as often as there are seams of coal in the series--these are demands on our assent of a most startling kind4 ,the materials of each of these seams1 however thin 7and there are some not an inch thick1 lying upon and covered by great depths of sandstones and shales71 must1 according to this theory1 have grown on land1 and the covering of each must have been deposited under water4--,there must thus have been an equal number of successive upward and downward movements1 and these so gentle1 such soft heavings1 as not to break the continuity1 or disturb the parallelism of horizontal lines spread over hundreds of square miles2 and the movements must1 moreover1 have been so nicely adjusted1 that they should always be downward when a layer of vegetable matter was to be covered up2 and1 in the upward movements1 the motion must always have ceased so soon as the last layers of sand or shale had reached the surface1 to be immediately covered by the fresh vegetable growth2 for otherwise we should have found evidence1 in the series of successive deposits1 of some being furrowed1 broken up1 or covered with pebbles or other detrital matter of land1 long exposed to the waves breaking on a shore1 and to meteoric agencies4 ,these conditions1 which seem to be inseparable from the theory in question1 it would be difficult to find anything analogous to in any other case of changes in the relative level of sea and land with which we are acquainted40 ,while these statements show that we are still but imperfectly acquainted with all the conditions and circumstances under which coal was formed1 two deductions may be made from them1 not only as against the rival theories themselves1 of ,murchison and ,lyell1 but still more strongly against the application of either theory to existing causes in the formation of the true bituminous product4 ,in the first place1 the vegetable matter brought down by the rivers1 and spread over the bottom of the sea1 does not amount to an infinitesimal fraction of what constitutes the enormous compound of the carboniferous age2 and a different effect1 according to the laws of nature of which we have experience1 will necessarily result from the causes now in operation4 ,secondly1 whatever1 as a question of fact1 it may have been with our coal-basins in the times gone by1 certain it is that ,,now there are no such oscillatory movements1 causing the required changes in the relative level of sea and land1 in those quarters of the globe the most densely covered with forests and jungle1 and out of which the new coal-measures are expected to rise4 ,the thin accumulations of woody residuum1 observed by ,sir ,charles ,lyell1 in the sections exposed along the banks of rivers1 railways1 and other passages through ,american prairies and forests1 are all unfavorably circumstanced--firm as the everlasting hills on their rocky foundations4 ,we may be reminded of the numberless ages required for the production of coal1 that man's experience is but of yesterday1 and himself an ephemeral of a moment as compared with the revolutions of time recorded on the fabric of the globe4 ,this record1 we have reason to think1 should be vastly abridged4 ,but grant it1 for the sake of argument1 in all its indefinite dimensions1 and still the answer is1 that a moment in a question of this kind is just as instructive as the lapse of a million of years4 ,time1 while it witnesses change1 does not create or of itself produce anything4 ,it is rather a passive than an active agent4 ,time marks on its horoscope the effects of existing causes1 but the causes themselves it neither fashions or eliminates4 ,geologists enter into minute calculations as to the annual decay of vegetables1 and the transporting powers of water1 the waste of forests and the uptearing of hurricanes4 ,grant them all to be correct1 and the data in these respects to be unchallengeably sound1 we again beg them to consider that the ,mississippi bears on its bosom the earthy spoils of half a continent--that the ,ganges mixes in its fabled flood the varied wreck of all the ,himalaya1--and when all are duly borne onward by these and the mighty rivers elsewhere on the globe1 that the arrangement of the mingled composite has yet to be effected--the clays1 sands1 coals1 conglomerates1 all in their serial superposition--the separation of the clean from the unclean--and where is the agency thus to dispose and to proportion8 ,the deep says1 it is not in me4 ,the rivers show it is not in them4 ,are there any cosmical affinities in the things themselves to cause each to each1 kind to kind1 to take their respective places8 ,when we are told1 that we know not what is going on in the depths of ocean1 and other hollow places of the earth1 our answer is two-fold4 ,for first we reply1 there were depths and hollows1 lakes1 estuaries1 and seas1 during all the intermediate succeeding epochs to the present age1 and no true coal was produced3 accumulation after accumulation of detrital alluvia followed1 lapidified1 and was distributed over extensive areas1 and common to every region of the globe2 but the real bituminous treasure has not been uniformly an accompaniment4 ,a second answer is1 that when and where vegetable matter1 in any quantity1 did accumulate1 the result of the process was not ,,coal4 ,the lignites of the tertiary deposits1 and many of the oolites1 have been subjected to the first and second stages only in those changes which plants undergo in their transition into the bituminous combustible4 ,nature in these instances1 if we may use the expression1 has made the effort1 but the same results have not followed2 the process is incomplete1 and the product is only in patches4 ,if we are reminded of the great oolitic deposit of ,richmond1 in ,virginia1 re-examined and pronounced to be so by ,sir ,c4 ,lyell1 some may still say non-content1 that the problem is not yet solved as to the true position of the coal there4 ,many anomalies in geognostic arrangements occur in that vast continent3 many of the intermediate series up to the chalk are absent altogether1 and the sandstones1 discriminating the new from the old red1 are not fully determined4 ,lignite1 in considerable quantity1 exists among the tertiary deposits of the ,alps1 and has recently been found in the north-west provinces of ,india1 in the vicinity of ,kalibag2 but all partaking of the usual qualities--wood1 only partially altered by inhumation1 and imperfectly adapted for domestic purposes4 ,one overwhelming consideration with us1 in the discussion of this question1 is the position which ,,man occupies1 and the part he now plays on the theater of creation4 ,the beasts and quadrupeds of the earth do not appear to have been formed so early as the carboniferous epoch4 ,had they existed at the period it is impossible to say what effects would have resulted from their graminivorous propensities in modifying the amount of the vegetable exuvi4 ,but man has appeared1 modifying1 changing1 controlling everything--the earth and all its stores under his dominion--and all submissive to his will4 ,he has little influence1 indeed1 over the more solid departments or structure of the globe--the form of its continents--the direction of its oceanic currents--the rise of islands and depression of land--the movements of the earthquake1 and fiery torrents of the volcano2 but over all its living products1 especially its vegetable and terrestrial animal tribes1 his influence is immense--increasingly incalculable4 ,and1 the geologist says1 had this new denizen left the earth to itself1 and nature to her own arrangements--were there no tilling1 draining1 and reaping--were the jungle and the wilderness to be still uninvaded--the marsh and the lagoon to welter in their dreary desolation--a vast coal deposit would be preparing in all the great lakes and seas of the globe4 ,these postulates and conditions1 however1 can no longer be granted4 ,every day and every season they are all curtailed and limited in their influences4 ,man cuts down the forest1 and applies it in its green1 woody state to his own use4--,the waste is reclaimed4 ,the desert he makes his habitation2 a place of beauty and civilization4 ,the moral triumphs over the material1 the spiritual over the earthy1 and his charter-right is to subdue all things to himself4 ,thus the geologist cannot1 if he would1 forget or overlook the remarkable human epoch in which his own lot has been cast4 ,as regards the future1 there is a new element to which a due place must be assigned in his speculations2 and all the great revolutions1 and after-phases of our globe1 he must henceforth read and interpret in the ,,revealed destiny of his own race4 ,finally1 let it be assumed1 in the argument for the geologists1 that vast masses of vegetable matter are already stored up and duly arranged over the sea-bottom1 that more is continually accumulating1 and that there is heat enough under the earth's crust to bituminize and indurate the whole4 ,a new coal epoch is thus approaching1 or rather1 even now1 we are living within its influences4 ,but the question occurs1 when completed1 of what avail would it be to man1 who would inevitably be swept off the earth in the elevation and breaking up of the strata from the depths beneath8 ,geology makes known the undoubted fact1 that our planet has been subjected to many and most extensive changes before it was reduced to its present condition4 ,these1 from the beginning1 have been all found subservient to the improvement and well-being of the human family4 ,the next1 upon a similar scale of magnitude1 would inevitably prove the destruction of the race4 ,illustration3 #a4 ,sigillaria pachyderma4 #b4 ,stigmaria ficoides4 #c4 ,lepidodendron ,sternbergii4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,geological ,,structure ,,of ,,fifeshire--,,divisions ,,of ,,the ,,coal-,,field4 ,the general remarks on the coal deposit1 in which we have been led to indulge in the two last chapters1 may be verified by1 as they all receive the most ample illustrations from1 the admirable arrangement1 position1 and distribution of the metals in the counties of ,fife1 ,clackmannan1 ,stirling1 ,lanark1 and ,renfrew1 which are extensions of one great basin4 ,fifeshire alone contains an epitome of the system1 divided as it is into numerous compartments1 the encrinital limestone cropping out and marking their several boundaries4 ,indeed1 the whole series of the carboniferous rocks are here laid open for examination on every hill-side1 in the numerous ravines which intersect the district1 and along the eastern and southern coast-lines4 ,approaching the coal-field from the north1 a panoramic section at once fills the eye1 and will rivet the attention1 as1 stepping from the strata of the antecedent epoch1 you find1 in immediate superposition as well as contrast of color1 the multiplied and more diversified reliqui of the coal-measures4 ,the eruptive rocks will also be here studied to great advantage1 where they have played no insignificant part in giving shape and outline to the landscape1 and in laying open the inclosed minerals4 ,it is impossible to convey any adequate idea1 in mere description1 of the marvelous display of plutonic action of which this peninsula has once been the theater3 subterranean movements crushing and grinding into fragments the solid strata1 parting and heaving them asunder1 or crumpling into complicated folds the tougher and more unyielding beds1 as if it had been some fabric of manufacture tossed and twisted by the wind4 ,the bituminous breccia at ,pettycur1 ,elie1 ,balcarras ,den1 and which appears again at the ,rock and ,spindle near ,st4 ,andrews1 affords a remarkable instance of the action of the intrusive rocks in breaking1 and transmuting into a composite paste1 the series of beds constituting the coal-measures1 in which every one of the strata has its representative in fragments1 from the size of a garden pea to masses a foot in diameter or even upward4 ,the storm lifts the ocean into lofty curling billows1 leaving long narrow troughs and frightful yawning chasms beneath4 ,here1 in like manner1 and all over the surface1 the crust has been broken up1 and the minerals tossed about1 or agitated like wreck upon the waves1 and1 upon subsiding1 have been cast into the form of ridges1 or broad tabular masses4 ,the ridges1 with their serrated outcrops1 in the interior of the county1 have been gradually rounded off and covered with soil2 while1 by the shore1 they still present the effects of the violent commotions to which they have been subjected1 exposed and laid bare by the action of the sea1 upon the lower levels of the disrupted strata4 ,the ,ochils1 ,lammermuirs1 and ,pentlands1 were already above the waters1 calmly contemplating the troubled scene1 as an inner circle of basalt and greenstone hills arose--the ,lomonds1 ,largo ,law1 the ,binn1 and ,binnarty1 on the north2 ,stirling rock1 ,corstorphine hill1 ,arthur's ,seat1 ,berwick ,law1 and the ,bass1 on the south--which were severally lifted into view1 to be stationed as so many sentinels on the outposts of the field4 ,the coal metals shared in the general elevation of the hills1 where they are either folded round their bases1 or are depending1 drapery-wise1 from their tops4 ,thus the members of the inferior carboniferous series are raised about eleven hundred feet along the ,lomond ridge1 encompassing the east and west cones1 and training westward by ,binnarty and the ,cleish hills4 ,largo and ,kellie ,laws have each their coal basins1 of workable minerals1 stretched along their eminences1 and dipping toward the ,teasses and ,ceres basins4 ,on the low grounds which skirt them on the south1 the metals dip rapidly into the ,forth1 and are collected in various hollows or independent bands by the shore4 ,the intermediate coal-fields1 which occupy the center of the basin1 are regulated in their strike and inclination by the dykes and outbursts of trap by which the strata have been invaded4 ,a limestone traverses the county at right angles from north to south1 emerging at ,ravenscrag1 which forms a line of demarkation betwixt the number of the coal seams on its opposite sides4 ,the ,lochgellic1 ,cowdenbeath1 and ,dunfermline basins1 on the west1 average about twelve to fourteen workable coal-bands1 while on the east of the limestone1 the ,dysart1 ,wemyss1 ,teasses1 and ,ceres basins run from twenty to thirty-three of various quality and thickness4 ,the ,clackmannan coal-field recovers in numerical proportion1 where there are twenty-four seams of coal1 from two inches to nine feet thick1 and two great slips1 which raise the metals successively #gjj and #abcj feet1 as they abut against the ,ochil range4 ,in the ,elgin basin there are twenty-seven beds of coal1 with a thickness of fifty-six feet4 ,fifeshire thus owes its diversified shape and contour1 and access to all its vast mineral treasures1 to the early disturbances by which it has been so thoroughly dislocated and furrowed4 ,every district has a section1 separate and independent1 of its own4 ,the ground you tread on is1 every foot of it1 a cabinet of wonders--literally a necropolis1 a city of the dead4 ,go where you will1 chronicles of the olden time are before and around you1 while everywhere-- 8and at your side ,rises a mountain-rock in rugged pride1 ,and in that rock are shapes of shells1 and forms ,of creatures in old worlds40 ,the cuttings of the ,edinburgh and ,perth ,railway give excellent sections of the various minerals of the county1 from the gray sandstone to the uppermost coverings of the coal-field4 ,entering ,fifeshire from the west1 your course lies deep among the detritus of the various members of the old red series already noticed4 ,at the ,newburgh ,station1 and under the cliffs of ,clatchart1 the gray sandstone and cornstone may be observed--the latter is regularly stratified2 the former is embraced among the igneous rocks1 broken1 isolated1 and inclined at every possible degree to the horizon4 ,clatchart ,crag itself has been stirred to its foundations2 the huge mass1 reverberating now to the passage of other fires1 rests on highly inclined beds of the gray sandstone2 the black transverse dyke of basalt1 a few hundred yards on the west1 may be conjectured to have been the instrument of upheaval1 as in fancy we can still discern in the half-raised1 half-suspended position of the rock1 the enormous pressure required for its elevation4 ,the ,lomonds and ,cults hills are conspicuous objects in the landscape4 ,the line traverses for miles the yellow sandstone and overlaying grits which form their base4 ,greenstone and augitic trap in both ranges cap the summits1 bursting through the coal metals1 and elevating the various beds of limestone4 ,the encrinital limestone sweeps round the peaks of the ,lomonds1 filling up the intermediate plateau1 in some places bare of herbage or any covering of soil1 and the fossils are lying exposed on the surface fresh as when washed by the waves1 about eleven hundred feet above their ancient sea-bottom4 ,a vein of galena occurs on the south side of the hill1 intersecting the limestone at right angles to the plain of stratification1 and is described in the notices of the period of its discovery as rich in silver ore4 ,but it has no great claim1 we believe1 to be regarded as argentiferous4 ,two similar veins traverse the county1 one already noticed in ,dura ,den1 and the other in the parish of ,inverkeithing1 situated among the same series of rocks1 and having the same general line of bearing from nearly north-east by south-west4 ,the lead ore in all of them is partly massive1 and partly in regular hexahedral crystals4 ,lead1 copper1 cobalt1 and silver are likewise found in the ,ochil range1 but in no great quantities1 in the culminating heights betwixt ,dollar1 ,bencleugh1 and ,dalmyat4 ,on approaching the river ,leven at ,markinch1 the out-crop of the central coal-basin comes to the surface4 ,after crossing the viaduct the line lies deep among the metals--a repetition of faults1 upheavals1 and depressions1 where in succession the edges of the same beds are several times passed over4 ,the dip is various1 the strike generally to the south-east1 and under the sea at ,dysart the metals are wrought at the depth of several hundred feet4 ,the igneous rocks along the coast will not fail to call forth surprise and admiration1 unrivaled as they probably are in the number of alternations with the deposits of the carboniferous series1 and all the interesting phenomena which accompany their intrusion4 ,no description1 indeed1 can do justice to the interlacings and alternations presented of the two classes of rocks1 so different in their origin1 as those of the traps and coal-measures2 where1 through the agency of the former1 the latter series are bent1 twisted1 re-united1 altered1 and lying at every angle betwixt the horizontal and perpendicular4 ,nearing ,kirkaldy the coal is split up1 and the fused matter injected between the layers1 converting them into cinder4 ,within the distance of a mile1 from ,seaforth to ,kinghorn1 there are from forty to fifty alternations of the igneous and sedimentary rocks2 and again1 on the west1 toward ,pittycur1 there is a recurrence of as many1 with examples of the jointed columnar basalt reposing on sandstones rendered quartzose1 or converted into chert1 and on shales baked into brick4 ,the outburst at the ,burntisland terminus1 in three parallel ridges1 throws up the strata1 inclining them toward the north1 whence trending round the town they dip under the ,binn-hill4 ,orrock-hill1 lying immediately to the north-east of ,binn-hill1 furnishes a beautiful example of jointed basalt3 the entire rock1 three hundred feet high1 and nearly a mile long1 by half-a-mile in breadth1 is composed of regularly constructed columns1 which divide into concretionary masses from one to three feet in length1 and presenting generally the pentagonal or hexagonal form4 ,the columns are grouped into distinct clusters1 which1 inclining at various angles1 impart to the exposed face of the rock a pleasing picturesque effect4 ,the erosive action of water1 or swell of the ocean tide1 is all that is required here to shape another ,staffa--8that wondrous dome0--out of these magnificent materials4 ,a fresh-water1 or rather perhaps an estuary1 limestone is an object of considerable geological interest in this locality1 mixed up and altered in many places by the igneous matter4 ,the best sections occur a little back from ,pittycur harbor1 and on the western slope of ,binn-hill1 where it is extensively quarried4 ,scales of fishes and other ichthyolites are very abundant3 also innumerable microscopic shells1 belonging to the order of entomostraca and the genus cypris4 ,several species of paloniscus have been found in good preservation1 namely1 ,p4 ariolatis1 ,p4 ornatissimus1 and ,p4 ,robisoni4 ,the ,pygopteris ,jamesoni and specimens of the ,eurynotus and ,crenatis have likewise been detected in the deposit4 ,vegetable remains are very plentiful1 especially of the fern tribe and the lycopodiums3 the impressions of the sphenopteris1 of which there are several species1 are extremely numerous1 fresh1 and beautiful4 ,this limestone is of a dull1 earthy aspect1 acquired obviously from the bituminous matter diffused through the mass2 not crystalline1 though very compact in texture1 and possessed of great hardness4 ,wardie beach1 on the opposite shore1 displays a bed having many points of resemblance1 which abounds in nodular masses1 inclosing coprolites and fishes2 and inland1 the celebrated ,burdiehouse limestone is an extension of the ,fifeshire deposit4 ,thus varied and important is this small peninsula1 a speck on the face of the globe1 and affording so much room for speculation and detail4 ,inclosed between the estuaries of the ,tay and ,forth are to be found some of the most legible and remarkable chronicles of our planet's history4 ,fifeshire has been stirred and upheaved all over1 abounding in all the life-moving and plutonic energies of the carboniferous age4 ,the vegetable and animal kingdoms supply a vast proportion of the materials of the sedimentary rocks1 while the fires of the interior have mainly contributed to the production of the rest4 ,shall we look across the waters1 and replace them1 in imagination1 by the former continuity of land1 when the center of the coal-basin was raised above them1 and their numerous islets were high and dry upon the surface8 ,certain it is1 that the erupted matter so abundantly scattered along the shores and piled up in such masses landward1 would leave room for subsidence1 while the outgoing of the deposits on both sides shows such an affinity in quality and strike as to demonstrate an ancient union and geological connection4 ,illustration3 ,diplopterus--new species4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,carboniferous ,,rocks--,,continued4 ,the geology of the northern division of ,scotland is1 almost in every particular in the series of rocks that have been described1 the counterpart of the southern1 which now falls to be noticed4 ,the fossils so richly imbedded in the former are here repeated1 more sparingly in some1 more abundantly in other families1 and1 in several instances1 in the introduction of entirely new forms of organic life4 ,along the west and south border counties1 the granites1 with their associated crystalline group1 are sparingly developed1 stretching1 at intervals1 from the island of ,arran through ,galloway and ,kirkcudbright into ,dumfries-shire4 ,the silurians follow in their order of superposition1 occupying an extensive area from sea to sea across the island4 ,the devonian system1 chiefly in the upper and middle beds1 wraps round the base of the older formation1 and rests unconformably on its highly-inclined strata4 ,the carboniferous deposits are widely distributed1 some in isolated basins1 and enveloped by the old red1 and pregnant all of them with the fossils of the period4 ,the ignigenous rocks1 the traps and porphyries1 are also very abundant1 some in the form of detached cones1 some in extensive ranges1 and all demonstrative of their character as the agents that have lifted up1 disrupted1 and twisted the strata of the district4 ,in passing over this section of our course1 it will not be necessary1 therefore1 to dwell in any minute or lengthened descriptions4 ,i4 ,the geological student1 in commencing his researches at ,edinburgh1 is immediately arrested by the more prominent objects that everywhere rise into view--the ,castle ,rock--the ,calton ,hill--,salisbury ,crag--,arthur's ,seat--and the ,pentlands4 ,a wondrous1 glorious scene1 every one involuntarily exclaims1 upon reaching any of these heights1 thrown1 as if by the hand of an enchanter1 in and around this lovely city4 ,geology here has its favorite residence--the birth-place and cradle of the ,,huttonian ,,theory--,arthur's seat there to attest its truth4 ,what a history of bygone times recorded in these two words6 ,what a revolution produced in the sentiments of mankind as to the science of world-making6 ,and1 still more1 how deeply were men's minds agitated1 and the foundations of religious truth stirred1 by the novel views which were then announced6 ,the assumption lying at the foundation of the rival1 or ,wernerian theory1 is1 that the materials of which the various strata of the globe consist were originally dissolved or suspended in water3 they were thus in a condition to assume any form which their physical qualities and the laws of matter might determine2 and1 accordingly1 in this fluid menstruum they were consolidated into various combinations1 partly by means of crystallization1 and partly by mechanical deposition4 ,the ,huttonian theory1 on the other hand1 employs the force of subterraneous fire as its principal machinery1 which is placed at immense depths1 and the materials on which it operates are under a vast pressure2 and1 consequently1 while they are indurated into limestone1 sandstone1 and coal1 along with their included fossils1 their essential qualities are but very slightly affected1 and the arrangement and disposition of their particles but little disturbed4 ,the hills around1 by which this theory was to be tested1 and to whose singular structure it owed its origin1 consist of an alternating series of tabular masses of trap and the sedimentary deposits1 basalt forming generally the central nucleus1 with tufa1 greenstone1 and sandstone variously disposed and folded over4 ,all the conditions of upheaval1 tortion1 angularity1 induration1 fracture1 and dislocation1 are amply furnished2 the columnar1 jointed structure is well defined in ,samson's ,ribs2 the very momentum of pressure1 forcing the sandstone into the perpendicular1 may be studied as a nice dynamical problem on the ,castle rock2 and when ,sir ,james ,hall brought from his crucible a reconstructed whinstone1 regularly jointed and with no trace of vitreous fusion1 the demonstration of the theory was felt and acknowledged1 in its leading features1 to be complete4 ,palontology has added its living wonders to the mere lithological speculations which were then in vogue and engrossed all attention4 ,and geologists can now afford to smile at the misinterpretations1 made by both parties1 of established facts and well-ascertained things--nay1 at the eagerness with which they irrelevantly pressed facts to bend to their conflicting views--the vehemence with which the ,wernerian declared whinstone to contain organisms1 and to be no exception to the law of mechanical deposition2 while the ,huttonian as deliberately set himself to prove that the nodules in chalk could only be the product of fire--the formation itself1 as now determined1 being merely a concretion of shells of the most perfect structure and undiminished luster4 ,truth1 like light1 emerges slowly1 feeble in its dawnings when objects are obscurely seen or readily mistaken1 a portion of the view half in shade1 and half in brightness4 ,and thus it has happened with both systems1 as in the progress of the science errors have been detected and deficiencies supplied1 peculiar to each4 ,the acrimony of the contest1 too1 has passed away4 ,theology has been disentangled1 and declared by the divine to be in no way affected by the issue4 ,and while the scurrilities of the indiscreet abettors of both are utterly forgotten1 the deductions of ,hutton and the masterly expositions of his illustrator are in the main adopted as the basis of the only true system of geology4 ,,ii4 ,in the general structure of the environs of the ,scottish metropolis this plutonic machinery is deeply impressed1 as it has been most vigorously exerted4 ,there is everywhere the greatest derangement existing among the sedimentary deposits1 everything is tossed out of its original place1 and divided into small sections and detached groups4 ,the connections and relative positions are very difficult to trace4 ,still1 amidst all the disorder1 the more general bearings of the different formations may be ascertained4 ,mr4 ,charles ,maclaren1 indeed1 has examined everything with a pains-taking care1 and described them with a minuteness and fidelity of detail1 which cannot be surpassed1 as they need scarcely be repeated4 ,his 8,geology of ,fife and the ,lothians10 will be in every student's hands who desires to be acquainted with the structure of the district1 conversant more especially as this learned geologist is with the position1 fragments1 and medal-stamp of every rock--their relations to each other1 historical value1 and bearings in the science--and illustrated with such diversity of section and diagram1 that we feel as we accompany him1-- 8,panditur interea domus ,omnipotentis40 ,the general contour of the city1 so picturesque and remarkable in its grouping of streets1 may be taken as a pretty safe guide in determining the nature of the geology4 ,the town is built over two parallel ridges1 which completely expose the character of the inferior minerals4 ,the northern division rests upon a series of beds1 which appear immediately to underlie the true workable coal seams2 the ,old ,town ridge and ,castle rock bear up the lower members of the carboniferous deposit1 while along the extended plateau on the south the yellow sandstone of the old red has been brought to the surface4 ,the whole would thus seem to occupy the upraised floor of the great coal basin of ,mid ,lothian1 dislocated and separated by the igneous matter of ,arthur's ,seat and the ,calton1 whence the metals all plunge to the eastward4--,the flat1 extending from ,restalrig toward ,granton and ,craigleith1 consists of the same series of beds as those upon which the ,new ,town stands1 and which have been elevated by the dykes and bosses of trap that so frequently intersect the strata4 ,the range of the yellow deposit1 supposed to belong to the old red1 is well defined2 it commences on the northern slope and face of ,salisbury ,crags1 and covers nearly the whole eastern side1 depending to the ,hunter's ,bog4 ,the same series of beds1 readily distinguished by their reddish hue1 train round by ,samson's ,ribs1 thence proceeding by ,st4 ,john's ,hill1 ,heriot's ,hospital1 ,burntsfield ,links1 they bear toward the ,new ,cemetery on the estate of ,grange4 ,the beds here1 exposed in several quarries1 consist of an alternating series of marls1 concretionary limestone1 and sandstone1 similar in all their lithological characters to the deposits of ,dura ,den and ,glenvale4 ,not a fragment1 indeed1 of scale or organism has yet1 so far as we know1 been detected in the locality now defined1 so as unequivocally to determine the position of the group in question4 ,but is not the absence of the fossil test as fatal to its connection with the carboniferous series8 while1 considering its remote geographical distance from the undisputed domain of the new red1 and its proximity to a surrounding belt of the true silurian1 flanked with the old red1 the presumption is that the deposit will yet be classed with the upper or yellow sandstone division of the devonian family4 ,still we merely indicate an unpresuming judgment1 leaving it to so much gifted local research to confirm or disprove the correctness of the proposed classification4 ,,iii4 ,the ,mid ,lothian coal-basin1 so rich in minerals1 forms part of the great carboniferous valley of ,scotland1 and may be considered as simply an extension of the coal-field of ,fifeshire1 the metals dipping on both sides toward the middle of the ,frith4 ,the out-crop rises toward the ,lammermuirs and the ,pentlands4--,the area occupied by the coal-measures includes a space of about eighteen miles in length1 by twelve in breadth4 ,the series of beds composing the formation1 are nearly five thousand feet thick1 or about a mile in depth from the upper to the lower strata1 and the whole fractured and dislocated in every part of the field4 ,there are fifty-two slips1 indeed1 enumerated by the miners1 which occasion a depression toward the north to the extent of #e1aif feet2 the metals are again raised by a series of thirty-seven slips to the height of #b1dab feet2 thereby causing a change of relative level in the strata1 corresponding to the altitude of the highest points in the ,lammermuir range1 namely1 #b1geg feet4 ,the disturbances above and below thus approximate to each other4 ,have they been directed and modified by the same agencies1 the silurian group rising higher and higher as the carboniferous subsided into the depressions occasioned by the evolution of the igneous matter8 ,the ,bass1 ,north ,berwick ,law1 and ,arthur's ,seat1 are the products of the change1 though indeed these scattered points of igneous rock on the surface can give no idea of its subterranean extent1 since basalt and greenstone are met with at unvarying depths in a great portion of the coal district in question4 ,the whole field is prolific in organic remains4 ,but ,,burdiehouse ,,limestone claims a separate notice1 not only from the abundance but the very remarkable characters of the fossils contained in it1 many of them met with for the first time in the progress of our sketches4 ,this rock immediately underlies the encrinital limestone beds of ,gilmerton1 and is about twenty-seven feet thick1 of a dark dingy color1 arising from so much bituminous matter mixed up with the calcareous4 ,the vegetable remains are very numerous1 and in a state of beautiful preservation4 ,nowhere1 indeed1 in the best arranged herbarium1 have we anything so graceful1 so minutely and skillfully delineated1 as are the figures of these plants upon the stone4 ,there are several species of lycopodium2 also stigmaria1 sigillaria1 equisetum1 calamus1 and cyclopteris1 in great abundance4 ,the fronds of the fossil sphenopteris furnish exquisite tracings of nature's penciling4 ,nor are the relics belonging to the animal kingdom less remarkable for their freshness and variety4 ,here are the extremes of organic life1 microscopic shells innumerable1 with the claws1 eyes1 slender feelers of their occupants1 all entire2 and the gigantic ,megalichthys1 with a body sixty feet long1 teeth of four to six inches still sparkling with luster1 and scales of corresponding magnitude brightly enameled4 ,there are also the bones and plates of another huge creature1 the ,gyracanthus1 along with the jaws of sauroid fishes1 measuring from a foot to a foot and half in length1 thickly studded with teeth4 ,and there1 too1 lovely trout-like animals1 the ,paloniscus--with all the fins and organs and body fresh and glistering1 as if ready to leap to their prey1 strewed in countless myriads around4 ,nor is the enumeration complete as to the kind and quality of the fossils of this curious deposit3 there coprolites mark the habits of the predaceous monsters of the period--fcal excrements composed of the remains of their victims--and in some places so numerous as to outweigh the calcareous matrix in which they are imbedded4 ,m4 ,agassiz1 in his synoptical table of ,british fossil fishes1 #ahdc1 gives the following list belonging to the ,burdiehouse limestone4 ,in the ,order of ,placoids1 ,ichthyodorulites1 there is a ,ptychacanthus sublvis1 ,sphenacanthus serrulatus1 and ,gyracanthus formosus3 of ,cestraciontes1 ,otenoptychius pectinatus and denticulatus1 and ,ctenodus ,robertsoni3 of ,hybodontes1 ,cladodus acutus1 parrus1 and ,hibberti1 and ,diplodus gibbosus1 and minutus4 ,in the ,order of ,ganoids the following occur3 of ,lepidoides1 ,paloniscus ornatissimus1 ,robisoni1 and striolatus1 and ,eurynotus crenatus1 and fimbriatus2 of ,sauroids1 ,megalichthys ,hibberti1 ,diplopterus ,robertsoni1 ,pygopterus ,bucklandi and ,jamesoni2 of ,clacanthes1 ,holoptychius ,hibberti1 sauroides1 and striatus1 ,uronemus lobatus1 and a ,phyllolepis tenuissimus4 ,since this list was drawn up1 many additional fossils have been obtained from the same locality2 some of them exhibit characters which will establish1 in all probability1 new genera as well as species4 ,the collection in the ,edinburgh ,college ,museum contains gigantic specimens in the highest condition of preservation1 exciting our wonder at the strange forms which peopled our ancient seas1 and admiration of those singular processes by which they have been embalmed by the chemistry of nature1 surviving so many changes and disturbances in the history of our planet4 ,the comparative history of the fishes enumerated1 in relation to the systems of rocks through which they extend1 is both interesting and curious4 ,for example1 the genus ptychacanthus begins in the devonian and ends in the carboniferous period1 one species peculiar to each formation4 ,paloniscus begins in the carboniferous1 and continues through the permian age1 in five new specific forms4 ,the megalichthys begins in the devonian and becomes extinct in the carboniferous types2 diplopterus1 holoptychius1 and phyllolepis have each the same terms of existence2 and again the pygopterus begins in the carboniferous1 and survives1 in two new species1 through the permian era4 ,thus five genera are common to the devonian and carboniferous systems2 two to the carboniferous and permian2 eight belong exclusively to and become extinct in the carboniferous4 ,these results clearly manifest an adaptation on the part of nature1 as well as some arbitrary principle in the order of her creations1 and all speak to the fact of progression in the course of events and of direct interposition in the successive origin of organic existence4 ,look again into these rocks4 ,consider the causes which so filled them with these memorials of warfare and death4 ,two families only1 the least predaceous of their kind1 survived the age which produced them--one wide revolution covered with its spoils the surface of the earth--the wreck is closed over and silted beneath the waves--and the carboniferous era1 teeming with animal and vegetable life1 forever passed away4 ,the deposit1 so fruitful in these organisms1 has1 with much probability1 been regarded as a fresh-water limestone1 from the circumstance that it contains no corallines or marine shells4 ,the plants1 too1 are all of a terrestrial or fluviatile kind1 and so perfectly entire as to warrant the inference that they have not been tossed and drifted about in an ocean nor transported from a distance1 but have perished in situ1 and dropped amid still waters4 ,it may have been an estuary on the borders of an ancient sea1 whither the ,megalichthys resembling the crocodile family in bulk1 and the ,gyracanthi akin to the sharks in voracity1 may have roamed in quest of food1 gamboled for pleasure amidst a luxuriance of tropical vegetation1 or indolently reposed by the umbrageous shades of slimy lagoons4 ,how different the scene over which they maintained undisputed sway from all that is now in these parts subject to man's dominion4 ,transpose the zones of the earth1 and then only could there be an approximation to the more ancient condition of things4 ,illustration3 ,basin ,form of ,coal-fields4 #a4a4 ,mountain ,limestone4 ,,iv4 ,the ,mid ,lothian coal-basin is bounded on the west and north-west by the ,pentlands1 the ,braid1 and ,blackford ,hills4 ,the ,corstorphine ,hills stand out in bold relief above the plain1 and are remarkable of their kind2 they consist of a sandstone basis1 capped by an enormous mass of greenstone1 in which the groovings and polish of diluvial or glacial action have long been familiar to the geologist4 ,the carboniferous beds occupy1 at intervals1 the district toward ,falkirk and ,stirling1 much broken and intersected by the igneous rocks4 ,stirling1 like ,edinburgh1 is greatly indebted to its physical features1 the ,abbey-,crag1 the dome-shaped and wooded rock of ,cragforth1 the ,castle-,hill1 and the ,gillies ,hill1 overlooking and sharing in the glories of the plain of ,bannockburn4 ,these all consist of greenstone or dolerite trap1 resting on sandstone1 or often alternating in nearly conformable beds with sandstone1 ironstone1 and limestone4 ,the ,pentlands stretch about sixteen miles in length by six in their extreme breadth1 the axis of the chain bearing almost due ,n4 ,e4 and ,s4 ,w4 ,the eastern division presents the different varieties of feldspathic rocks--in the center or middle group of hills the graywacke series are more developed--and on the west the old red sandstone and carboniferous deposits prevail4 ,the axis of the chain in some of the higher points is capped with the sedimentary rocks1 and along the entire range the phenomena of upheaval1 dislocation1 subsidence1 and denudation all present themselves in turn1 and in most instructive forms4 ,the ,carlops and ,kaim-,valley coal-basin exhibits some remarkable appearances2 within a trough-shaped1 narrow space1 beds of feldspar1 porphyry1 greenstone1 and conglomerate are mixed up with the coal metals1 all less or more denuded1 separated by transverse openings1 and irregularly broken off at their outcrop4 ,fossils1 though sparingly1 are found in the graywacke1 as trilobites and orthoceratites4 ,the ,braid and ,blackford ,hills are outliers of the ,pentlands1 and present the same varieties of rock and general lithological structure4 ,rapid and brief as the above sketch is1 let the reader be assured there is much1 very much1 in the district to interest and instruct4 ,make the circuit of the ,pentlands when he may1 and he will not be satisfied until he has penetrated every valley1 scaled every height1 and become familiar as household words with every name and calling through the length and breadth of their varied range4 ,habbie's ,how1 a very pastoral in the sound1 ,carlops1 ,kaim-,valley1 ,mount-,maw1 ,deerhoperigg1 ,dalmahoy-,crags1 the ,mendick ,hills1 how dear to every lover of nature in their sweet retreats and cool shady banks6 ,and ,tintock1 rich in prophetic lore1 to be understood must be ascended1 the eye ranging over the whole central valley of ,scotland1 embracing both oceans in its field of vision1 and numbering all over the lofty granite peaks of the ,grampians4 ,resting-spots like these impart a delicious charm to the geologist amidst his wanderings4 ,if pregnant with the materials of doubtful reasonings1 perplexing arrangements1 and intricate soundings1 the science has its sunny sides and cheerful fields of recreation4 ,and if compelled to traverse regions of dangerous stepping1 dark profound abysses1 he is speedily again by the side of sparkling rivers1 among grassy holms and pastoral dales1 redolent with the bracing airs of crag and mountain4 ,nor are the moral influences of such speculations of a less healthful and refreshing kind4 ,geology1 which deals with the cycles of time1 is yet the youngest of the sciences4 ,one exclusively of observation1 all its objects lie scattered around the daily pathways of men4 ,and still1 but as yesterday1 has it been looked upon with a favorable eye1 as a means of investigating and establishing truth1 and its truths themselves recognized as of good character and tendency4 ,herein1 until very recently1 the tree of knowledge was supposed to yield of its fruits of good and evil1 most abundantly of the latter1 and men long pertinaciously refused to partake of1 or even to look at1 the precious things that dropped from its numerous well-laden branches4 ,hume had attempted to demonstrate that there was no external world at all4 ,researches into the structure of mind1 metaphysics1 the domain of 8common sense0 as distinguished from the abstractions of the ideal philosophy1 engaged and confounded alike the learned and the unlearned4 ,beneath1 in the strata of the earth1 lay the records and memorials1 it was said1 of vast untold ages1 and all shrunk from an abyss on whose brink it was perilous to walk4 ,the interior was literally regarded as unhallowed ground1 from whose ,pandora recesses1 open who might1 nothing but evils could issue1 at utter variance with every fixed and established principle4 8,hic specus horrendum et svi spiracula ditis40 ,religion and science thus stood in direct antagonism to each other1 divorced by general consent from an unnatural alliance2 and men1 in those days1 in the ,scottish metropolis1 were grouped into coteries who eyed each other with a bitter jealousy4 ,some more liberal mind1 indeed1 a ,blair and a ,robertson1 would pass occasionally into the hostile camp1 but returned again to his own ranks1 to be received with no very cordial embrace or flattering approval4 ,but now1 were one of the sages of scarcely half a century ago permitted to rise from the dust1 and to take his place among the intellectuals of the present time1 nothing would be more likely to excite his wonder than the controversies1 and their subjects1 which figure in their works4 ,theory there is scarcely any among those who now give law in ,modern ,athens in letters and science4--,whether in the regions of mental philosophy1 the walks of physical science1 or the sacred precincts of religion1 men's minds are nearly at one as to the objects and distinctive province of each4 ,they do not fear or dread the pursuits in which they are respectively engaged1 assured that skepticism1 or any desire to maintain it1 has now neither party nor standing2 or come to what conclusion they may1 the ,,wisdom ,,from ,,above will in its own pure and elevated region remain scathless against any or all the bolts with which it may be assailed4 ,the everlasting hills are still there on their old foundations--the remarkable variety of structure1 which1 all around the city they so marvelously present1 still speaks in impressive language of order and disruption1 stability and change--and underneath1 in the imperishable forms of buried generations1 are the records of a history in which man has no part1 and with which his destiny would seem in no wise concerned4 ,but the language written thereon1 and the leaves on which it is impressed1 are divested of the awful sibylline mystery in which they were then involved4 ,the saint is scared not away by the frightful characters and dark meanings which the sage pretends he can trace in them4 ,nor is the sage himself startled at the alchemy of his own art1 and the singular forms he can summon to his presence from his subterranean domains4 ,a delightful repose all this from the fierce personal controversies of a few years ago4 ,healthful truths are brought to light4 ,on one and the same page1 penetrate as deep as they may1 all professions and their abettors join alike in admiration of the ineffaceable impress of the order1 wisdom1 and goodness everywhere to be traced in the structure of the globe4 ,there is no longer the metaphysician vainly attempting to resolve the whole concrete mass into the ideal2 or ridiculously striving to raise a structure of materialism1 on the assumption that all our ideas1 whatever we know and all we excogitate about1 are derived through the medium of our sensations4 ,the regions of infinite space are explored1 and the devotional tendencies of the age have become the more decided and intense in proportion as the mental vision has been enlarged4 ,the mind seizes with a firmer grasp1 and advances with a steadier pace over the fields of creation1 because there is a ,creator whose invisible ,godhead is understood from the things which are made4 ,and now1 in search of truth1 one and the same through all things1 religion and science go hand in hand1 sanctified and enlightened by the union1 and imparting the most salutary lessons from the physical and moral revelations of ,him whose path is in the deep places of the earth1 and who for the display of his own glory has become the ,instructor and ,redeemer of the world4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,lammermuirs--,,the ,,border ,,land--,,general ,,structure ,,of ,,scotland4 ,the interest which attaches to this division of our sketches of ,scottish geology is in no degree impaired by the consideration that the rocks1 all of them1 belong to one or other of the systems which have already passed under review4 ,a belt of undisputed ,silurian deposit here meets us for the first time1 flanked on all sides1 and nearly throughout its length1 by the old red sandstone4 ,porphyritic hills1 greenstone bosses and dykes1 and the various phenomena of trap intrusion and dislocation1 are again presented in many and very striking illustrative details4 8,the border land10 physically as well as morally1 could not well be without its points of contention2 and1 accordingly1 geologists have made 8raide across the marches10 and claimed as of ,scottish origin an extensive domain of the ,english ,,new ,,red sandstone1 or ,permian system4 ,corncockle ,moor1 too1 and the quarries near ,dumfries1 unfold as curious a page in the history of the old world as does the ,crigup ,lynn1 hewn out of the same family of rocks1 of the stern warfare and fierce contendings which adorn1 as they likewise disgrace1 the annals of the seventeenth century4 ,the ,,general ,,structure of the district1 as now indicated1 is determined in the main by the ,lammermuirs1 a high mountain-range of sedimentary rocks1 which formed the northern barrier of an extensive inland basin or sea1 and of which the ,solway and ,tweed occupy the central stretch or depression4 ,the old red sandstone was herein deposited1 the strata of which rest unconformably upon the older rocks4 ,the carboniferous beds succeeded1 but at a period when the floor of the basin was elevated1 and the dimensions contracted2 hence these beds1 though reposing conformably for the most part on those of the old red and not separable on physical grounds1 do not occupy the same extent of surface4 ,creeks and bays existed around the silurian shores1 into which the materials of the sandstone were carried1 and thus along the southern slope1 from ,st4 ,abb's ,head to ,portpatrick1 the old red is traceable in every opening and indentation1 running up in long narrow tongues1 or detached stripes1 among the mountains4 ,the coal series appear at various intervals in small isolated basins1 forming on the west the coal-field of ,whitehaven1 which dips into the ,solway1 and on the east occupying from ,kelso to ,berwick1 the valley of the ,tweed1 where the metals lie in very thin bands1 and underneath the mountain limestone4 ,here are porphyries1 which have disrupted and broken through the old red sandstone1 and therefore1 corresponding in age to those of the ,sidlaws1 ,ochils1 and ,pentlands2 and augite traps and greenstone1 scattered over the coal-measures1 which are as clearly the product of the movements that issued in the elevation of ,arthur's ,seat and the ,lomonds4 ,the ,lammermuirs have an extent of nearly one hundred and fifty miles in length1 by an average breadth of twenty-five to thirty miles4 ,the axis of the chain runs from ,e4,n4,e4 to ,w4,s4,w41 broken at intervals by rivers and their divergent valleys1 and constituting the great frontier barrier of ,scotland4 ,the ,lowthers1 ,corston-cone1 ,queensberry1 and the high grounds along the upper right bank of the ,nith1 form outliers or extensions of the general mass4 ,long regarded as furnishing a true type of ,graywacke rock1 the ,lammermuirs are now1 by general consent1 admitted into the family of ,,silurians1 bearing affinities both to the ,upper and ,lower series1 and partaking likewise in some of the characteristics of the ,cambrian group4 ,the eastern division of the chain consists of very thick beds of a coarse brecciated rock1 covered on the southern side by a fine-grained clay slate4 ,in ,kirkcudbrightshire1 the slate-band and conglomerate1 seen on the main land1 and at ,white ,bay1 in ,little ,ross ,island1 are very closely allied in their mineralogical characters4 ,and in the center division1 about ,innerleithen1 the intrusive traps constitute a marked and interesting feature1 more particularly as they there assume a subcrystalline granite structure1 and convert the sedimentary deposits into hard flinty slates1 or ,lydian stone4 ,the organic remains are not abundant3 they are scattered1 too1 at wide intervals1 but still sufficiently characteristic of the formation4 ,they consist of graptolites1 encrinites1 trilobites1 and several genera of shells4 ,the list of conchifer1 in some beds1 is almost entirely ,lower ,silurian1 while the smooth ,asaphi would seem to connect this range of hills with the lower ,silurian rocks of ,tyrone and ,fermanagh1 in ,ireland1 which have furnished the only other specimens yet detected in ,britain4 ,the fossil localities are the lime quarries of ,wrae1 near ,broughton1 ,greiston slate quarry1 near ,traquair1 ,st4 ,mary's ,isle1 ,kirkcudbright1 ,loch ,ryan1 and ,little ,ross ,island2 and in certain graywacke beds in ,liddesdale1 ,mr4 ,nicol records the discovery of 8fragments of plants1 not unlike the broken reeds1 and other imperfect vegetable remains1 seen on some carboniferous sandstones40 ,the collection of ,lord ,selkirk1 from the vicinity of his residence1 consists according to ,mr4 ,salter1 of--,terebratula semisulcata1 ,leptna sarcinulata1 ,atrypa reticularis1 ,bellerophon trilobatus1 ,natica1 ,turritell1 ,murchisonia1 ,avicula lineata1 ,orthonaia cingulata1 ,phacops caudatus1 ,beyrichia tuberculata1 and ,graptolites ludensis4 ,these characteristic ,upper ,silurian fossils are accompanied by a ,leptna sericea1 and ,orthoceras tenuicinctum of ,portlock1 and appear to be of the date of ,wenlock shale4 ,their latest historian1 indeed1 ascribes a vast indefinite antiquity to the whole range1 and considers that the depository matter has been twice reduced to a muddy arenaceous state3 that a chain of hills existed in these parts at an age long anterior to the ,lammermuirs1 and that another stratified formation has to be intercalated in this district1 between the oldest existing strata and the parent rock1 whence the sediment was derived4 ,this opinion is founded chiefly on the circumstance1 that in none of the beds have there ever been observed any fragments of granite1 or the associated crystalline gneiss and schists1 while fragments of clay-slate and graywacke are not uncommon amongst the conglomerate or coarser varieties4 ,but1 admitting the truth of the statement1 does it warrant the inference deduced8 ,the clay-slates and graywacke of the ,highlands are equally destitute of the inclosed granitoid portions so abundant in the superimposed conglomerates of the old red2 and1 upon the supposition of an intensely but unequally heated sea-bottom1 and partial outbursts of irruptive matter1 these appearances in the ,lammermuirs1 where certain strata contain included fragments of similar consolidated rock1 receive an intelligible and less extravagant explanation4 ,we more willingly accede to the conclusion of ,mr4 ,nicol1 that we have still here much of the original shape and contour of this ancient land2 that the rivers and valleys are all in their olden places1 and that since the elevation of the group there has been no important change in their general character and physical outline4 ,the ,lammermuirs1 too1 connected as they are with the great silurian deposits of ,england1 ,wales1 and ,ireland1 lend confirmation to the theory1 repeatedly adverted to1 that these mountains1 as well as those of the preceding epoch1 formed the land on which grew part at least of the exuberant vegetation entombed in the coal formations of ,great ,britain4 ,it may have been a peninsula projecting into a sea1 whose waves washed the ,grampians on the north1 covered all the midland and eastern districts of ,england on the south1 and were bounded by the primary and silurian girdle of rocks on the west4 ,through these depths roamed the successive races of holoptychius1 paloniscus1 gyracanthus1 and megalichthys2 the shallows and bottom teemed with swarms of molluscs1 trilobites1 cephalaspes1 pamphracti2 while the dense forests of ferns1 palms1 and pines1 which clothed the shores and uplands1 have been distributed among the various basins of the coal-measures4 ,ascend the ,eildons1 or1 as the route may be1 ,carterfell1 ,hartfell1 or ,criffel1 and witness the changes1 as the different systems of rocks were drifted into their places1 and rose above that expanse of waters4 ,criffel1 the loftiest mountain on the west1 is composed of granite1 and formed a solitary islet there1 or one of a series of islands1 of the primary crystalline formation4 ,the silurian chains1 in their respective positions1 are next elevated to the surface4 ,the old red sandstones collect and form along their bases1 spreading over vast areas all around4 ,these are lifted into day by the ,eildons1 and the numerous hills of claystone porphyry1 which give such diversity of character through ,liddesdale1 ,lauderdale1 ,cheviotdale1 and the whole border landscape4 ,carterfell1 which consists of a dark greenstone trap1 resting on a white or light reddish sandstone1 marks the upheaval of the carboniferous strata1 and probable retirement of the sea from these districts1 where we find no traces of any of the secondary or newer systems of rocks4 ,thus the line of the ,scottish ,border1 from ,annan to ,roxburghshire1 consists of the under series of the coal formation passing down the ,tweed1 by ,kelso1 ,sprouston1 ,coldstream1 to ,berwick4 ,the old red sandstone is largely developed by ,chester1 ,hawick1 ,melrose1 ,greenlaw1 ,dunse2 and again1 after an interruption of trap and the coal-measures1 it resumes its course by ,chirnside1 ,foulden1 and ,mornington1 to the sea4 ,scales of the ,holoptychius and ,dendrodus are found in the strata at ,prestonhaugh1 near ,jedburgh1 and likewise at the ,knock ,hill1 in ,berwickshire4 ,on the higher grounds1 from the ,eildons to ,hartfell and ,peebles1 the graywacke and slate beds everywhere prevail1 presenting at ,st4 ,abb's ,head1 ,selkirk1 and ,ettrick ,bridge1 interesting specimens of crumpled and bent strata4 ,remarkable veins of trap and calc-spar are to be observed near ,st4 ,mary's ,loch2 silver and other metallic ores are said to have been found in the neighboring hills3 near ,moffat1 gypsum1 pyritous graywacke1 and alum slate1 are very abundant--formations probably connected with the mineral waters of ,moffat ,well and ,hartfell spa4 ,at ,glendinning1 in the parish of ,westerkirk1 an antimony mine has been long wrought1 which is about twenty inches wide1 and once rich in the valuable mineral4 ,a vein of galena or lead1 lined with heavy-spar1 crosses the ,esk at ,broomholm1 below ,langholm1 and here the usual series of shales1 limestone1 sandstone1 and thin bands of coal1 are developed for miles1 resting on the graywacke of ,hermitage1 ,ernton1 and ,witterhope ,burn hills4 ,the valley of the ,nith1 from the pass of ,dalveen to ,barjarg1 incloses a space of nearly ten miles in length by four in breadth1 filled with red sandstone and beds of limestone1 and exhibits one of those original creeks or bays in the primary and silurian rocks which characterize this ancient belt4 ,the lower basin1 toward ,dumfries and the ,solway1 presents the same series of extremely fine-grained strata4 ,the small isolated basin of red sandstone near ,lochmaben1 and which contains the celebrated impressions of foot-marks in the beds at ,corncockle ,moor1 as well as the very limited patch of sandstone in the vale of the ,annan near ,moffat1 are probably referable to one and the same system with the above4 ,and what is that system--the ,devonian or ,permian8 ,the position of all these beds1 and of others in ,annandale1 has long formed a fruitful subject of discussion with geologists and practical engineers1 whether to regard them as an extension of the ,english new red1 or to refer them to the predominant rock of the country4 ,the latter view is borne out so far by the fact1 that no borings1 which have been both numerous and deep1 have penetrated to the coal metals4 ,on ,greenough's map1 on the other hand1 the former theory is adopted1 where the coal-measures are represented as extending underneath from ,canobie1 through ,annandale to ,arkit ,muir1 and as again emerging at ,arbigland near ,criffel4 ,it has likewise been argued1 that the foot-impressions on the slabs near ,dumfries and at ,corncockle ,moor1 have no analogues anywhere in the true old red of ,scotland1 while they are abundantly represented by the foot-prints of the newer sandstones of ,england and ,america4 ,but now indeed such proofs are not wanting in ,america1 that wide field of all organic things2 the discovery has been made and assented to by the most competent authorities1 that1 in the old red sandstone of ,pennsylvania1 and #h1ejj feet below the upper part of the coal formation1 reptilian foot-prints are numerously and distinctly impressed1 allied in form to the tread of the existing alligator4 ,then the larger orthocer and other testace1 found so plentifully in the limestones of ,closeburn and ,barjarg1 also at ,linburn and ,shielgreen1 would seem to claim very clearly and decidedly for the deposit in the middle basin of ,nithsdale a ,devonian origin4 ,we must refrain from entering upon the details of the extensive geological fields which have just been glanced at4 ,a volume would not suffice to exhaust the subject4 ,but1 rapid as our sketch has necessarily been1 enough has been advanced to show how intimately connected with the great fundamental principles of the science1 and with the original configuration of our planet more especially1 are all the deeply-interesting phenomena of the region in question4 ,if at times the reader1 as well as explorer1 is apt to complain of the dryness of particulars1 that the nomenclature is harsh and scholastic1 how delightful to close1 even in imagination1 the day's excursion amid these lovely valleys1 to be steeped in fairy lore by ,st4 ,mary's ,loch1 to dream of legends and minstrelsy until morning dawn by ,newark's ,tower4 ,nith1 ,gala1 ,ettrick1 ,yarrow1 ,teviot1 silvery ,tweed6--who1 indeed1 will ever associate with the minerals1 sections1 and technicalities of geology4 ,still how refreshing to lie down1 traveled and weary-worn1 by their green pastures and pure waters4 ,how beautifully do these rivers1 all of them with an origin so remote1 hold on in their pebbly courses--winding and gathering from so many rills amidst the pastoral uplands--8making sweet music with th' enameled stones0--and anon with all their affluents sweeping in placid majesty to the main4 ,hither will men of all professions and pursuits1--the sportsman1 poet1 philosopher1--eagerly and rejoicingly resort1 each with his own object or his own care4 ,finely1 in imperishable verse1 has the truth been expressed of that many-colored tide of human life on which all are embarked-- 8,which1 though it change in ceaseless flow1 ,retains each grief1 retains each crime0-- --but ,,now these streams1 dales1 and hills retain no impress of strife or blood2 and hence will the wish1 age after age1 breathe from many a heart-- 8,by ,yarrow's stream still let me stray1 ,though none should guide my feeble way3 ,still feel the breeze down ,ettrick break1 ,although it chill my withered cheek2 ,still lay my head by ,teviot stone1 ,though there forgotten and alone40 ,and so human life will glide away1 a new epoch will come1 and the development of man's immortal being will be accomplished in the new and brighter earth that is to arise4 ,we here close our review1 over ,scottish ground1 of the earliest lessons to which we have access of the mineral structure of our globe4 ,all the primary1 palozoic1 and older class of the secondary rocks1 are largely developed1 leading us1 indeed1 a very little way into the inner chambers of the earth1 but back through periods of time into the records of its history1 for which the science itself furnishes no real standard of measurement4 ,vast1 inconceivable cycles pass before the imagination1 and fascinate the speculatist1 while the sober inquirer pauses1 doubts--nay1 startles--at such remote undefined annals of creation4 ,the legends and chronicles of ,scotland are old indeed2 but give geologists their own way1 and what an antiquity would they assign to the mountains1 valleys1 and rivers of ancient ,caledon6 ,and yet1 true it is1 no rocks on the face of the earth can claim a deeper origin1 an earlier arrangement1 a more ancient ascent above the waters1 than those whose nature and position we have so cursorily described4 ,leaving for the present the question as to ,time1 geology has this advantage1 in facilitating an acquaintance with its principles1 that its lessons are as general as they are particular4 ,go where you will the record is before you1 so that1 generally speaking1 what is observed of its subject in one district or country1 or even continent1 has its counterpart in some other place near or remote4 ,the rocks of ,scotland are all on the great scale1 not solitary and individual specimens1 but wide-spread formations along the face of the country4 ,with scarcely a single exception1 every class of rocks described in our course stretches from sea to sea over the island4 ,the structure of ,scotland is peculiar in this1 that the bearing and the strike of the various strata1 are correspondent and continuous4 ,hence the parallelism of the great straths and valleys4 ,the principal rivers are observant of the same law4 ,the several formations1 from the primary crystalline to the coal and upper sandstones1 have a common axis of elevation from nearly ,e4 ,n4 ,e4 to ,w4 ,s4 ,w41 partaking more of an equatorial than of a meridional direction4 ,the porphyries and chains of the older traps maintain a similar direction4 ,the greenstones and basalts1 polygonal and jointed1 or otherwise1 are for the most part to be found within the area of the coal measures1 or rising along the out-crop of the basins4 ,hence a description of any one locality will generally1 in respect of the same series of rocks1 be found applicable to another4 ,the student may indifferently begin his researches as his convenience or sojourn for the time may direct4 ,and whether it be the granite on the coasts of ,aberdeen or of ,arran--the schists of ,glenisla or the ,mull of ,cantire--the silurian of ,st4 ,abb's ,head or ,portpatrick--the devonian of ,stonehaven or ,girvan--the porphyries of ,dundee or ,largs--the shales and limestones of ,st4 ,andrews1 ,glasgow1 or ,ayr--the columnar basalts of ,earlsferry1 ,orrock1 ,campsie1 or ,staffa--the lesson throughout will be one and the same1 either as respects the mineral texture or the geological position of the rocks examined4 ,a section1 therefore1 commencing at ,ben ,nevis and terminating at ,kirkcudbright on the ,solway1 would present the very same series in all the main phenomena of superposition1 structure1 dislocation1 and fossil remains1 as the section adopted from ,ben-,mac-,dhui to the ,cheviots4 ,granite1 gneiss1 quartz rock1 mica schist1 and clay slate1 underlie the old red sandstone which traverses the upper district of ,stirlingshire4 ,the traps of the ,campsie ,hills have thrown up1 and form the boundary of the great coal-basin1 of which ,glasgow constitutes the center1 and within whose area and suburbs are exhibited all the most striking features of the basalt and greenstone family--the elevation at the ,necropolis beautifully showing the effects of their intrusion1 and the induration of the sedimentary deposits4 ,on the south1 the coal metals are again succeeded by the old red sandstone and the porphyries1 which in their turn are replaced by the silurian or graywacke rocks of the border counties4 ,the section throughout is of the most varied and instructive character1 diversified by the grandest mountain scenery1 the loveliest of the ,scottish lakes1 and a development of the arts and sciences over inexhaustible coal and iron treasures which has rendered the name of the western metropolis illustrious among the cities of the world4 ,should the geologist desire to extend his researches along the western coast and among the islands1 he will experience an additional interest1 arising chiefly from the numerous junctions of the different formations or sets of rocks which the constant erosion of the ,atlantic has everywhere exposed to view4 ,gigantic isolated portions of granite or syenite1 bared all around1 are to be seen on every headland4 ,the twistings and flexures of gneiss and the schists are frequent and remarkable4 ,columnar basalt1 similar to ,staffa1 fringes the base of every islet and promontory2 and from appearances like these1 he will invariably infer the presence of the carboniferous deposits1 which1 in small detached patches are of common occurrence4 ,here1 likewise1 are to be found the lias and oolites1 in marginal stripes on several of the islands1 easily distinguished by their characteristic fossils1 and giving unequivocal indications of a far greater extension1 and continuity with the main land1 ere the inroads of the sea had broken up and parted so much of the aboriginal structure of the district4 ,the vi et spe cadendo of geological agency--the convulsions of subterranean forces1 and the destroying powers of water--are exhibited in all their grandeur1 where1 in the face of cliffs exposed to their foundations1 the hardest rocks may be observed yielding to every wave1 and the whole inner machinery of granitic and basaltic dykes which upheaved them from their basis traced in their most varying forms and complicity4 ,out of the gean a finer group of islands is nowhere to be threaded--some scarcely raised above sea-level--some towering into the clouds1 as in the lofty peaks of ,mull1 ,jura1 and ,rum1 with an altitude almost equal to their length--most of them glorying in names soft and euphonious as the choicest of classic ,greece--and yet1 all fragmentary and disrupted1 as if but yesterday shivered by the thunder cloud4 ,skye exhibits an epitome not of the islands only1 but nearly of our whole ,british geology1 in which there is every variety of trap1 combined with the primary series--coal1 white sandstone1 and limestone--the lias and oolites of secondary formation--and mountains #c1cjj feet in height1 composed of ,labrador feldspar and hypersthene1 whose crystals in the dark composite mass rival in structure1 if not in beauty1 the stalactitic concretions of the ,spar ,cave itself4 ,rocks1 too1 are here1 of metamorphic texture1 to which a ,macculloch did not venture to assign a name or position in his list4 ,and the serrated jagged pinnacles of the ,coolin ridge1 with the black ,coruisk inclosed as in a crater1 who will attempt to describe--unlike to everything else in bleak1 naked1 precipitous grandeur6 ,the poet of the ,isles has sketched the picture-- 8,such are the scenes1 where savage grandeur wakes ,an awful thrill that softens into sighs2 ,such feelings rouse them by dim ,rannoch's lakes1 ,in dark ,glencoe such gloomy raptures rise3 ,or farther1 where1 beneath the northern skies1 ,chides wild ,loch-,eribol1 his caverns hoar-- ,but1 be the minstrel judge1 they yield the prize ,of desert dignity to that dread shore ,that sees grim ,coolin rise1 and hears ,coriskin roar40 ,,england4 ,,part ,,ii4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,england--,,general ,,sketch4 ,differing as ,england does in people1 manners1 language1 laws1 and institutions from ,scotland1 a still greater difference will be found to exist in the physical structure1 the mineral qualities1 the organic remains1 and in all the other phenomena of her geological development4 ,in the ascending series of rocks1 ,scotland furnishes only a few steps of the building--the lower courses of a gigantic pyramid2 across the borders1 strata upon strata follow each other in regular gradation1 until they attain their apex of elevation in the center of the capital4 ,another distinction exists in the quantity and extent of those rocks which are common to both countries4 ,all the primary1 transition1 and igneous formations are more abundant in the northern division of the island1 constituting nearly three-fourths of its surface1 while in the southern division they do not amount to a fiftieth part2 but1 on the other hand1 the secondary and tertiary formations1 which in ,scotland are scarcely recognized1 or only found in patches1 form in ,england about two-thirds of its superficial area4 ,hence1 on ,english ground1 a new interest begins as a totally new series of mineral strata rises into view1 and all charged with types and families of creatures of equally new and marvelous organization4 ,the new series of rocks to be described1 are termed the ,permian1 triassic1 oolitic1 cretaceous1 and tertiary systems4 ,some of these deposits are of vast thickness and extent4 ,they all abound in fossils1 some in the greatest profusion1 others only in the rarest and most remarkable types4 ,in consequence of these accumulations1 ,england1 as compared with her sister kingdom1 may be described as the full organic form in bones1 muscles1 and fleshy appendages1 plump and rounded all over1 where one sees little of the framework or internal ossification4 ,the great masses are so covered over1 the ribs and members are so silted up1 that the ridges and hills of the country1 save on the outskirts1 dwindle into insignificance4 ,every original depression has been concealed1 new increments of matter are everywhere added1 layer upon layer superinduced1 until the older fabric is nearly obliterated1 or only at wide intervals observed to rise above the surface4 ,scotland exhibits the huge trunk1 stripped and laid bare2 every yielding thing has been eroded and torn off2 and little remains1 except the giant skeleton1 the lineamentary fragments of the primeval world4 ,what is common to the two countries1 among the primary and crystalline rocks1 occupies the whole western line of coast4 ,the eastern shores of ,ireland1 correspond in mineralogical character with the opposite shores of ,scotland1 ,england1 and ,wales1 where a great silurian belt covers1 almost continuously1 both lines of coast4 ,these districts have thus all a common origin1 are all of the same geological epoch1 and were probably at one period more united than appearances now indicate4 ,the ,cumbrian group is isolated from the other portions of the system1 and1 as described by ,professor ,sedgwick1 comprehends the lowest fossiliferous beds in the island1 or perhaps as yet known in the crust of the globe4 ,the elaborate work of ,sir ,r4 ,i4 ,murchison on 8,,the ,,silurian ,,system10 has made every one acquainted with the extensive deposits in ,wales and ,cornwall1 in which the divisions of the system are fully pointed out1 their fossil contents amply detailed1 and their relations to analogous deposits in other parts of the world satisfactorily demonstrated4 ,through all these regions1 therefore1 we are again carried back among the earlier records already noticed4 ,coincident with the same are the old red sandstone deposits which stretch along the base of the more highly-inclined silurians1 covering the greater portion of ,herefordshire and ,devonshire2 and here1 as in ,scotland1 the sandstones and conglomerates are immediately succeeded by the rich treasures of the carboniferous age4 ,in the rocks of the three families lie1 in profuse abundance1 the organic remains of the epochs which produced them--cast like wreck among the silts and sands now hardened and upheaved into mountains--the peaks of ,skiddaw and ,snowdon1 of ,plinlimmon and ,helvellyn1 once the beaches or floors of our ancient seas4 ,the ,cumberland group of mountains1 with its varied scenery and lakes1 is surrounded with the carboniferous rocks--as bright and lovely a picture1 set in a framework of jet or ebony1 as the mind can contemplate4 ,the great scar1 or mountain limestone1 constitutes the base of the coal series1 resting on the old red conglomerate4 ,this calcareous deposit is of vast thickness1 range1 and extent--a concrete mass of animal remains of five or six hundred feet4 ,it presents the outline of a great coral reef which anciently fringed the center cluster of the lake mountains3 and is still1 with a few breaks1 traceable along their wide and irregular circumference4 ,the sublime gorge of ,gordale1 the fine gray precipices at the foot of ,ingleborough1 the caverns of ,chapel-le-,dale and ,clapham1 the rocks of ,kirby ,londsdale ,bridge1 and the great white terrace of ,whitbarrow1 all derive their peculiar features from the effects of erosive action on this formation4 ,diverging from the great terminal group of the ,cumbrians1 the same deposit rises along the center of the district into an independent ridge1 taking up the most commanding positions--the towering summit of ,cross ,fell on the one hand1 and the celebrated ,high ,peak of ,derby on the other1 with all its wondrous caves and sparkling fluor-crystals4 ,the intermediate range of the ,penine ,alps1 so denominated by the ,romans1 is chiefly composed of the formation4 ,the caves of ,kirkdale1 the haunt of the ,british hyena and other extinct carnivora1 are situated in the same limestone1 which is also the repository of numerous lead mines1 distinguished for their splendid metallic concretions and fluor-spars4 ,and here1 too1 are rivers which are lost in its dark caverns2 and that wonder of wonders1 an astronomical paradox1 where1 from the peculiar conformation of the hills and ravines1 the sun does not rise upon the inhabitants of ,narrowdale1 until he has passed his meridian1 and1 as if to repair the loss1 twice sets upon their horizon in the course of every evening4 ,the coal-measures on the eastern side of this chain consist of the ,northumberland1 ,durham1 ,yorkshire1 ,nottingham1 and ,derby fields2 on the west and north1 ,whitehaven1 ,lancashire1 ,manchester1 and ,north ,stafford2 and on the south lie the basins of ,ashborne1 ,loughborough1 ,wolverhampton1 and ,dudley4 ,the limestone skirts the out-crop of the metals in all these localities1 and thus serves to define the relations of the several basins1 and the cause of so many divisions in the field1 occasioned by the net-work of coral reef with which it has been originally penetrated4 ,the ,wolverhampton basin is remarkable for the number of roots and stumps of fossil trees found 8in situ20 in the ,derby field the railway tunnel has exposed to view a group of sigillaria1 forty in number1 standing at right angles to the plane of the beds1 and not more than three or four feet apart4 ,many of the tree fossils occupy a similar position in the ,northumberland and ,newcastle coal-measures1 reminding us of the submerged forests of which1 within the modern epoch1 our sea-coasts furnish so many examples4 ,the ,newcastle coal-field embraces an area of nearly eight hundred square miles1 being forty-eight miles in length by twenty-four in breadth2 the depth of the shaft is about three hundred fathoms1 from which are annually brought to the surface an average of six million tons of coal4 ,sixty thousand persons are employed in the mining operations2 and fourteen hundred vessels are engaged in carrying the mineral to ,london and its environs4 ,the iron trade1 connected with the different ,english coal-fields1 is upon a corresponding scale of magnitude1 there being little short of a million and a half tons of the metal annually smelted and brought to the market1 estimated to be worth1 upon an average1 twenty millions of pounds sterling1 and comprising within the dimensions of this small island1 as much as is exhumed by all the other nations of the globe4 ,the ,newcastle coal-measures have been singularly disturbed4 ,a basaltic dyke1 in some places eighteen yards wide1 crosses the southern part of the field1 throwing down the metals on one side ninety fathoms1 and reducing the coal1 at the distance of fifty yards1 to a state of cinder4 ,this great dyke is traceable through a course of seventy miles4 ,as an example of the prodigious power with which these subterranean forces have acted in the district1 suffice it to mention1 that the limestone which underlies the coal metals has been elevated nearly to the summit of ,cross ,fell1 a mountain three thousand feet in height2 and estimating the thickness of the formation at four thousand feet1 the limestone1 it will thus appear1 has been raised above its original position upward of six thousand feet4 ,the 8green rock10 or basaltic greenstone of the ,south ,staffordshire coal-field1 presents an interesting subject of geological research4 ,the center of the formation1 as also that of the eruptive agency of the tract1 may be considered to be in the ,rowley ,hills1 from which the latter diverges on all sides1 setting off innumerable veins or vertical dykes1 which are subdivided into smaller veins of a white color1 and everywhere penetrating and altering the shales1 sandstones1 and coal metals4 ,this igneous mass is more of an underground than super-surface rock1 occupying an area of twenty-five square miles1 and rising only into slightly-elevated and detached ridges4 ,it corresponds1 in mineral characters and position1 with another extensive effusion of trap in the northern coal-fields1 termed the 8,whinsill40 ,this consists of a bed of basalt1 which has been injected among the strata of the coal-measures1 or1 as some conjecture1 has been poured over them as a cotemporaneous formation--an overflood of lava produced during the deposition of the mountain limestone group1 and overlaid in turn by the succeeding series of upper strata4 ,nearly the entire coal-measures of the north of ,england have been more or less influenced by the eruption of the ,whinsill1 from which dykes are thrown off in every direction1 accompanied by phenomena precisely similar to those exhibited in the coal districts of ,scotland4 ,in both countries the same agencies are thereby demonstrated to have been at work1 originating in the same causes and producing similar effects1 and doubtless cotemporaneous in their operations over these and other immense areas of the globe4 ,the rocks which constitute the ,,secondary and ,,tertiary ,,divisions in the great geological series remain to be described4 ,these1 generally1 all range eastward from the older formations1 to which they succeed in the order of superposition4 ,the line of section of the whole bears from ,whitehaven on the north-west1 to ,newhaven on the ,german ,ocean by south-east1 where1 along this course1 every formation in the island is intersected1 ascending from the granite of the ,cumbrian mountains through all the intermediate series to the ,london clay and upper tertiaries4 ,the strata of which these formations consist are all1 more or less1 inclined to the horizon1 dipping under each other1 and emerging in succession to the surface4 ,the outcrop is at right angles to the line of section1 so that each class of rocks rises to and faces the north-west1 meeting the eye of the geologist as they are in turn approached1 and narrowing in extent and receding in proportion as they are vertically removed from the older systems4 ,hence1 were our researches to begin here1 instead of in the ,grampian range1 the starting point would necessarily be in the ,lake mountains4 ,the crystalline primary rocks are developed1 though sparingly1 in this district2 and these1 again1 are surrounded and overlaid by the lowest fossiliferous deposits1 termed by their explorer and historian1 8,the ,cumbrian ,system40 ,all the driest details of the science are here too amply relieved by the charming and magnificent scenery amidst which they fall to be wrought out1 where the inner and outer arrangements of ,nature1 in the disposition of her works1 are alike fitted to call forth our admiration and delight4 ,the author of 8,elia10 who had spent his days in a city life and had a prejudice against every other mode of consuming time1 upon his first excursion so far into the country1 describes ,coleridge as 8dwelling upon a small hill by the side of ,keswick1 in a comfortable house1 quite enveloped on all sides by a net of mountains2 great floundering bears and monsters they seemed1 all couchant and asleep40 ,it was enough2 the soul of the man of genius was stirred4 ,he clambered up to the top of ,skiddaw2 and he waded up the bed of the ,lodore2 and he satisfied himself1 8that there is such a thing as tourists call romantic40 ,but ,lamb was never meant for a geologist1 and for science of any kind he had no aptitude4 ,the athletic ,wordsworth is of a different mold1 compacted of different elements1 a mind stored with the loveliest images2 an understanding capable of sounding the depths of any subject1 and a thirst after knowledge from all and every source of visible creation2 and yet1 mark how disparagingly he pronounces judgment upon the student of unquestionably the most poetical of all the branches of physical inquiry--8that fellow wanderer0-- 8,he who with pocket hammer smites the edge ,of luckless rock or prominent stone1 ,the substance classes by some barbarous name1 ,and hurries on2 and thinks himself enriched1 ,wealthier1 and doubtless wiser1 than before40 ,but men1 it would seem1 can no more command their moods of thought than their prejudices4 ,the poetical vein1 like the geological1 will burst through all restraints to illustrate and vindicate the principles of truth4 ,we have often repeated1 recalling them from memory1 as the index of our own frame of mind1 while searching in the crypts of the primeval world1 the beautiful lines--a hymn to ,nature's works1 and the study of them-- 8,these barren rocks1 our stern inheritance1 ,these fertile fields1 that recompense our pains1 ,the shadowy vale1 the sunny mountain top1 ,woods waving in the wind their lofty heads1 ,or hushed2 the roaring waters1 and the still4 ,they see the offering of my lifted hands-- ,they hear my lips present their sacrifice-- ,they know if ,i be silent1 morn or even40 ,nor does it rest here1 for directly is our science under a deep debt of gratitude to the author of the 8,excursion10 who sought for and obtained the aid of the geologist's pencil to fill up the outline of his own sweet picture of the 8,scenery of the ,lakes40 ,read side by side1 one may well ask1 whether the descriptions of the poet1 or the sketches of the philosopher1 are the more buoyant in diction1 diversified in illustration1 or pregnant with devotional inspiration4 ,the work of ,wordsworth and ,sedgwick as a companion of travel is without a rival1 in which1 and out of the darkest pages of creation1 we see the light of science falling upon1 as if intending in verity to produce1 an illuminated volume1 and over which1 at one and the same moment imagination is throwing her gayer and softer colorings4 ,the physical structure of the district1 in fact1 furnishes the key to all its picturesque and delicious scenery4 ,the geology and the poetry are the counterparts of each other4 ,wordsworth has drank deep at the fountains1 and told the story of the one3 the lessons of the other have been read by a kindred spirit1 who has heard the mighty voice muttered in the dark recesses of the earth1 and1 in his own eloquently impassioned diction1 ,sedgwick has recorded the truths 8of wisdom1 of inspiration1 and of gladness2 telling us of things unseen by vulgar eyes--of the mysteries of creation--of the records of ,god's will before man's being--of a spirit breathing over matter before a living soul was placed within it--of laws as unchangeable as the oracles of nature40 ,and out of all the apparent confusion1 and multiplicity of objects so blended together1 he has brought 8harmonies0 to light1 which are to have 8their full consummation only in the end of time1 when all the bonds of matter shall be cast away1 and there shall begin the reign of knowledge and universal love40 ,illustration3 ,structure of the ,cumbrian ,group4 #a4 ,granite4 #b4 ,skiddaw ,slate4 #c4 ,green ,roofing ,slate1 ,porphyry1 c4 #d4 ,coniston ,limestone4 #e4 ,silicious ,grits4 #f4 ,ireleth ,slates4 #g4 ,slaty ,flagstone4 #h4 ,old ,red ,sandstone4 #i4 ,carboniferous ,limestone4 #aj4 ,magnesian ,limestone1 and ,new ,red ,sandstone4 ,thus1 as seen in the preceding section1 four geological systems are1 in this charming district of lakes and mountains1 all clustered together and rolled up for the convenient inspection of a few days' rambles3 ,the ,silurian1 ,devonian1 ,carboniferous1 and ,permian3 and to these are to be added the ,granites1 ,porphyries1 and ,plutonic family of greenstones and basalts4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,permian ,,system--,,new ,,red ,,sandstone4 ,the geological formations described are succeeded in the ascending order by the ,,permian system of deposits--a term borrowed from the department of ,perm in ,russia1 where the strata cover an area about twice the size of ,france4 ,this constitutes the new red sandstone of ,english geology1 and has many equivalents in other countries4 ,thus1 in the lower division of the group or true ,permian1 there occurs the ,zechstein and ,lower ,bunter series of strata3 in the upper or triassic division1 the equivalents are the ,upper ,bunter and ,grs ,bigarr1 or variegated sandstone1 the ,muschelkalk and ,keuper of ,french and ,german authors4 ,the system is largely developed in ,america1 ,africa1 ,india and ,china2 where1 as in ,britain1 the deposits are of extremely varied mineral characters1 consisting of grits1 sandstones1 marls1 limestones1 gypsum1 and rock-salt1 each presenting its own family types of vegetable and animal life4 ,the new red sandstone extends across ,england without interruption1 through the medial or central counties1 and ranges nearly north-east by south-west4 ,the two great divisions of which it consists are everywhere well marked1 the dolomitic or magnesian limestone forming the base1 and giving character to the lower permian group2 the upper triassic group is sufficiently distinguished by the rock-salt deposit which is wholly included in this part of the formation4 ,each1 too1 has its own peculiar set of fossils4 ,those of the former are allied to animals that flourished during the carboniferous period2 two genera of fishes1 the paloniscus and pylopterus1 are common to both4 ,the fauna and flora of the triassic group are regarded as entirely new1 neither borrowing from nor imparting anything to illustrate the organisms of the older families of rocks4 ,the one series of strata thus represents the coming of a new1 the other records the departure of a past state of things4 ,in the central counties of ,england this deposit expands into a great plain1 surrounded on all sides by the coal-measures1 while within its own area several basins--as those of ,leicester1 ,warwick1 and ,south ,stafford--are included1 being completely isolated by the new red4 ,an interesting economic question hence arises--,do the coal minerals occupy the whole or any considerable portion1 of the extensive area covered by this formation8 ,an equally important geological problem is connected with the solution of the question--namely1 ,what are the general relations of the older to the newer deposits of the district8 ,the researches of ,sir ,r4 ,i4 ,murchison1 and more recently1 of the geological survey1 have shown that the three groups of stratified rocks in ,south ,staffordshire1 the new red sandstone1 coal-measures1 and silurian beds1 are each unconformable to the other--that the upper rests indifferently upon the two lower formations--and that where the old red occurs1 the new is sometimes in immediate contact4 ,it is inferred from this1 that there was an uplifting of the silurian rocks1 along with considerable denudation1 previous to the deposition of the carboniferous strata4 ,mr4 ,jukes has observed pebbles of coal1 in great abundance1 in the lower beds of the new red sandstone1 and thence deduces the following conclusions3--#a4 ,that there was a movement and denudation of the coal-measures1 amounting1 in some localities1 to their entire destruction and removal1 before the deposition of the new red sandstone4 #b4 ,that1 subsequently to the deposition of the new red sandstone1 there was a very great movement of all these rocks1 producing their present faults and inclined positions4 #c4 ,that the boundaries of the ,south ,staffordshire coal-field1 as far as examined1 present examples of three kinds of relation between the coal-measures and new red sandstones2 i4 e41 by conformable succession2 by fault1 the coal-measures being present on the downcast side2 and1 thirdly1 where the destruction of the coal-measures has brought the new red sandstone into immediate contact with the silurian strata4 ,the author of this paper is farther of opinion that1 while there is a great probability that the larger part of the new red sandstone plain conceals productive coal-measures1 there is the presumption that these will not be found at a depth of less than #ejj or #fjj yards below the surface4 ,corresponding with these views it will be remembered that1 after the deposition of the coal-measures1 there succeeded a period of violent plutonic action1 whereby the formation was dislocated1 broken up into smaller sections or basins1 and pierced by the igneous rocks4 ,there would1 consequently1 during this season of paroxysm1 be a vast destruction of animal and vegetable life4 ,the indurated crust would everywhere undergo great trituration4 ,gravel1 sand1 and mud of every quality would be cast along the shores1 or silted up in the deeper hollows4 ,and then again would come a term of general repose1 as the angry elements subsided1 exhausted by their own violence4 ,the scene was actually or nearly as described2 and1 in the aspect of the older denuded and uplifted rocks1 as above represented1 there are the most striking evidences of the agitations of the period4 ,the exuberant flora of the carboniferous age1 suffered prodigiously1 or became utterly extinct4 ,conglomerates were formed which exhibit few traces of organic life4 ,to these succeeded the vast areas of the fine-grained sandstones1 and gypseous and saliferous marls1 everywhere nearly horizontal1 and still undisturbed on their ancient beds4 ,the tribes of animals were abridged in numbers1 changed or modified in structure1 so as to suit the altered state of things4 ,the rain-drop1 ripple-mark1 and foot-print are all witnesses to be adduced of the mighty change1 as they are all proofs of the doings of ,him who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand1 makes the clouds to distill in showers1 issues his command to the hurricane and the earthquake1 and restores in renovated beauty the face of nature4 ,the lowest bed of the formation is the magnesian limestone1 which derives its name from the quantity of carbonate of magnesia distributed through the matter of the rock1 amounting in some instances to as much as sixty per cent4 ,it is likewise called the dolomitic limestone1 from ,m4 ,dolomieu1 who first investigated its granular crystalline structure4 ,this limestone is generally of a yellow color1 glimmering luster1 passing occasionally into blue and brick-red varieties1 and exfoliates in thin plates1 or breaks up in large botryoidal masses4 ,in this form it occurs at the cliffs of ,durham1 where it assumes the grouping and arrangement of chain-shot2 and1 as the beds are distinctly stratified1 the face of the rock has a very striking and pleasing effect4 ,in the more southern counties1 this formation exists generally in the form of a conglomerate1 supposed to be derived from the debris of the older carboniferous limestone united by a dolomitic paste2 thus illustrating the source and mode of the deposit1 while in the organic remains there has been traced a regular gradation between the types of the older sub-carboniferous and the successive newer strata4 ,let us consider some of the more remarkable forms1 tracings1 and ingredients of the formation4 ,i4 ,,the ,,organic ,,remains are scanty as compared with those of the age immediately anterior4 ,the vegetable forms1 as yet detected1 are new and distinct4 ,the fishes consist of six or seven genera1 and about as many different species4 ,and here commences1 it is supposed1 the singular change in their ossification1 for which science can assign no reason1 as it cannot detect the least appearance of graduation into the new1 for the first time1 begun and completed change4 ,the fishes of the formation present the ,,homocercal--that is1 the equally-lobed1 or one-lobed tail-fin1--a structure peculiar to existing races1 with the exception of the shark1 sturgeon1 and a few others1 and form a striking contrast to those in the antecedent groups1 which were all possessed of the ,,heterocercal1 or unequally-lobed tail-fin4 ,illustration3 ,heterocercal4 ,homocercal4 ,the ,permian system of strata has hitherto been noted for the introduction of walking1 air-breathing animals2 hence it has been a canon of the science1 that in these deposits lie entombed the last links of that ancient chain of organic life which prevailed from the beginning1 and also the first terms of the new series which attained to such monstrosities and prolific exuberance in the succeeding epoch4 ,doubtful as to the existence of reptilian and ornithic creatures during the carboniferous period1 both forms of creation are here distinctly manifested2 and1 in the higher members of the triassic group1 birds and reptiles have left traces of their path4 ,thus remarkably defined1 in an invariable chronological series1 was the new red sandstone formation2 all the ancient types of organic life were disappearing2 completely new forms had just begun to replace them4 ,but1 while we are writing1 the discovery has been announced that1 so old as the devonian age1 reptiles existed2 alligator-like foot-prints1 in regular alternating order1 have been found impressed in the old red sandstone1 near ,pottsville in ,pennsylvania1 and by ,mr4 ,lea1 their discoverer and ,american conchologist1 the animal which owned them has been named the ,,sauropus ,,prim,,vus4 ,a revolution in geology is decreed in the words4 ,many divisions in the systems of rocks will have to be revised1 many distinctions altogether obliterated1 theories of development and of many other things are now sadly misplaced1 and out of keeping with the newly-declared order and progress of organic life4#g ,but without venturing at present to enter upon the consequences to palontology involved in this important discovery1 we proceed with the known and recognized history of the formation in question4 ,the organic remains contained in the upper1 or triassic group1 differ considerably from those of the lower division of beds4--,while the same families of vegetable fossils are preserved which characterized the coal-measures1 the particular species and genera have disappeared4 ,about twenty species of ferns and conifer1 a few calamites1 several fucoid plants1 and a gigantic genus named ,voltzia1 and resembling the ,araucaria or ,norfolk ,island fir1 comprise the thinly-scattered specimens of the flora of the period4 ,the quarries at ,coventry yield some undetermined stems of trees1 and leaves like those of our thick-ribbed cabbages have been found in the strata near ,liverpool4 ,the animal remains are more numerous as well as varied in their structures2 some1 indeed1 altogether anomalous in their organization1 and foot-prints of the most puzzling characters and dimensions4 ,there are several new types of mollusca and crinoidea1 among the latter the ,encrinus formosus1 one of the most beautiful forms in any department of the animal kingdom4 ,the fishes of the placoid order consist of seven genera and fourteen species1 of ganoids three genera and seven species4 ,the ,,reptilia supply the marvels of the period4 ,prof4 ,owen has described six distinct genera from these singular fossils1 in which he has established an affinity to the batrachia4 ,from the curiously-complicated texture of the teeth1 the term labyrinthodon has been given to one genus1 while the same authority suggests1 that the foot-impressions to which the term cheirotherium had already been applied1 might belong to this animal4 ,the two genera1 claydyodon and rhyncosaurus1 are remarkable specimens of organic structure1 the latter combining the lacertian type of skull1 with edentulous jaws1 which impart to the forepart of the head the profile of a parrot4 ,,ii4 ,the ,,ichnolites1 or foot-prints1 constitute a marked feature of the formation4 ,these geological phenomena were first introduced to the notice of the public1 about twenty years ago1 by the late ,dr4 ,duncan of ,ruthwell1 when his announcement of the tracks and foot-marks of animals along the ancient shores of ,dumfries-shire created a sensation among all classes hitherto unprecedented in the history of the fossil department of the science4 ,robinson ,crusoe was not more moved at the discovery of a human foot-print on the sands of his lonely island in the distant main1 than were men of science1 that traces of organic life should thus be stereotyped in a deposit believed to be utterly destitute of fossil relics4 ,the creatures which had traced them1 so like to existing walking things1 greatly increased the interest and the wonder excited by the picture--the tread in all the freshness of yesterday of the inhabitants of the antediluvian world6 ,the phenomenon1 however1 is now one of very general and common occurrence1 several quarries in the same locality--various places in ,england--in ,saxony--in the states of ,connecticut1 ,massachusetts1 and ,virginia--having since been found to yield the impressions in the greatest abundance1 and of numerous types and forms4 ,and so well delineated and perfect are the impressions1 that1 in the absence of any other reminiscence of the animal1 these characters have supplied the same aid to the skillful palontologist that the fragment of a bone1 a fin1 or a scale1 did to ,cuvier and ,agassiz1 in the reconstruction of their organic models1 and determination of extinct genera and species4 ,birds and reptilian quadrupeds have all contributed their share in the production of these curious lithographs4 ,small toe-looking scratches1 deep-palmy impressions1 cloven hoof-like indentations1 and large gigantic hollows1 have all been pictured in clear distinct outline1 covered up1 and now again laid patent before you as by the removal of the coverlit of your album4 ,the ,boston 8,journal of ,natural ,history0 communicates the following interesting account of the researches of ,dr4 ,deane3--8,i have in my possession10 he says1 8consecutive impressions of tridactyle feet1 which measure eighteen inches in length1 by fourteen in breadth1 between the extremities of the lateral toes4 ,each footstep will hold half a gallon of water1 and the stride is four feet4 ,the original bird must have been four or five times larger than the ,african ostrich1 and therefore could not have weighed less than #fjj pounds4 ,every step the creature took sank deep1 and the substrata bent beneath the enormous load4 ,if an ox walk over stiffened clay1 he would not sink so deeply as did this tremendous bird40 ,sir ,c4 ,lyell has examined most of the foot-print districts in ,america1 and found the markings so numerous in some places as to resemble the puddled stand of a sheep-fold or market-place2 the very spots1 doubtless1 whither the animals had resorted to quench their thirst1 or screen them at mid-day from the scorching heat4 ,the various tracings become more distinct in proportion to the distance from the scene of common rendezvous1 and the several routes by which they would return to their respective haunts1 or fields of pasturage1 are clearly defined4 ,a considerable doubt hung over the accounts from time to time detailed in the ,american journals and other publications1 concerning these novel and extraordinary discoveries1 until they were more than matched by the actual exhumation of the entire skeletons of the feathery tribes1 far exceeding in dimensions anything hitherto dreamed of in the science of ornithology4 ,the collections of ,mr4 ,williams1 and of ,mr4 ,w4 ,mantell1 from the alluvial deposits of ,new ,zealand1 utterly confounded all previous calculations as to the size and bulk attainable by the bird tribe4 ,the tibia of a ,dinornis1 in the collection of the ,university of ,edinburgh1 measures thirty-one inches in length1 a femur seventeen inches1 the average circumference of both being nearly twelve inches4 ,from the foot to the top of the clavicle1 the animal must have stood at least thirteen feet in height4 ,with the strut of the turkey1 or the pride of the peacock--head and neck of corresponding altitude--what a denizen for the wilds and forests of this region of the new world6 ,when animals of similar dimensions1 but of an earlier epoch1 frequented the beaches of ,great ,britain1 we have to imagine the ,cumbrian mountains1 the ,penine chain1 ,derby ,peak1 and the lofty cliffs of ,avon1 surrounded by an inland sea stretching by central ,france1 the ,black ,forest1 and the ,hartz mountains1 and the shores all round silted with the materials which now constitute the triassic group4 ,tortoises1 turtles1 bird-headed lizards1 birds themselves1 salamander and frog-like creatures larger than crocodiles1 resorted as now to the sea-shore1 in the cool fresh of the evening or as tide-mark permitted1 and regaled themselves at will on the food which an ever-bounteous element furnished to their various wants4 ,the science which1 from such indicia as these1 has succeeded in determining not only the class1 but the very form and habits1 of the animals which impressed them--no other traces remaining than those petrified footsteps1 covered up and hidden for ages--presents subjects of study to the inquiring mind1 which may well rank among the most valuable1 as well as curious1 of human research4 ,is it not wonderful enough1 that organic impressions merely should have been transmitted so fresh and entire1 as to admit of classification1 equal in scientific precision to that of the families of living things8 ,what matter of suggestive reflection1 inscribed on every page of that history8 ,the tribes which were created and flourished during the ,permian-triassic age perished1 their earthy parts in most cases were all again absorbed by the earth1 dissipated or melted into the viewless air4 ,still there are memorials of their existence1 enduring and indelible1 not of bones and sinews1 but of actions and habits1 which the waters cannot obliterate1 nor the floods wash away6 ,man1 a being of a different mold1--and with him 8,will all great ,neptune's ocean wash this blood ,clean from my hand80 was the cry of instinctive dread--the foreboding of an assured conscience1 that the foul and guilty deed could never be effaced from the memory1 nor blotted from the records of creation4 ,the foot-tread of the robber has tracked him to his den2 the minutest stain of blood has established the crime of murder2 a dream or vision of the night has pointed to the mangled corse2 a word uttered years after all was forgotten1 or a rude ditty chanted1 have recalled the pictures of infancy1 and the wanderer to his home4 ,here we behold1 stamped upon the rock1 legible as the law upon the tablets of the heart1 intimations of the great universal law1 that an act once committed cannot be canceled2 that a cause will be followed by a sequence of effects2 indefinite and ever-extending2 and that the ,divine ,spirit1 which drew illustrations from the fields and taught wisdom among the rocks of ,horeb1 still points the moral in these ineffaceable memorials--that the recording angel so traces in the book of life the story of every age1 of every generation1 of every individual1 never to be lost nor forgotten in that eternity whither their works do all follow them4 ,,iii4 ,other singular records of the age under review have been preserved in a similar manner2 for the ocean itself has not failed to impress its own movements on the sands laved by its waters4 ,hence the ,,ripple-,,mark has been detected1 a recognized object of the science1 and a phenomenon to be seen in the sandstones of all ages and in all countries4 ,the new red1 from the stiller waters perhaps in which it was formed1 contains everywhere beautifully minute and perfect delineations of the kind4 ,the furrowed sandstones form a class by themselves1 being selected in the neighborhood of ,brighton1 as paving-stones for the streets1 and in the stable-yards as a protection for the horses against slipping4 ,the traces often of the more destructive violence of the sea1 even of recent date1 in leveling villages1 sweeping down plains1 undermining cliffs1 overwhelming proud navies1 are completely obliterated or forgotten1 while here the records of its still voice are indelibly engraven on the rock4 ,observe other markings as you walk along the sea-shore on a summer's eve2 how every wavelet that breaks upon the beach leaves its tiny indentation1 until the whole surface becomes furrowed as the reflex of the ever-shifting flood2 there spring up on every side innumerable hillocks of sand1 little blisters through which you detect the movements of a creature within1 and then the trail of the sea-worm is visible all over4 ,these were vermes and annelides burrowing in the sands1 in those ancient times1 with instincts and habits precisely the same4 8,we find10 says ,dr4 ,buckland1 8on the surface of slabs1 both of the calcareous grit1 and ,stonesfield slate1 near ,oxford1 and on sandstones of the ,wealden formation1 in ,sussex and ,dorsetshire1 perfectly-preserved and petrified castings of marine worms1 at the upper extremity of holes bored by them in the sand1 while it was yet soft at the bottom of the water2 and within the sandstones1 traces of tubular holes in which the worms resided40 ,nature here has changed little from her first models2 the same element1 which is now chaffing upon the same materials of sand and rock1 has possessed through all time the same ingredients of life-stirring action4 ,,iv4 ,nor has the atmosphere--that twin ocean of upper earth--failed to give evidence of the properties and laws by which it was then governed4 ,the ,,rain-,,drop1 a singular unmistakeable marking1 has also been detected upon the sandstones of the period4 ,these impressions have been described and adopted by men of science as the true veritable indices of the showers and cloud-falls of the old world4 ,the very size of the drop may be measured1 the thick pattering of the rain compared with the scanty or copious showers of the present day1 and the very point detected from which the wind blew on the day that these showers fell4 ,what a curious tale is thus disclosed1 by a record1 no modern version of which any one will stay to read a moment longer than he can escape to shelter from its influences4 ,astronomers tell us1 upon the faith of the ,herschels1 the measurements of ,strve1 ,bessel1 and ,mdler1 that1 notwithstanding that light travels at the inconceivable speed of two hundred and thirteen thousand miles in a second1 the light from ,uranus1 one of our own planetary system1 does not reach our earth until two hours after it has been emitted from its orb2 that1 from the edge of the ,milky ,way1 a star of the twelfth magnitude1 careering in all the effulgence of that luminous ether1 cannot be descried until four thousand years after the ray has begun its journeyings2 and yet more1 as the results of the most rigid induction1 it is revealed to us that the spots of clouds1 which under the resolving power of the best telescopes seem more oval flakes or small specks of whiteness1 are really distinct and independent systems1 floating at such an immeasurable distance that the light has to wander millions of years before it can break in its faintest morning-streak upon our horizon4 ,mark the analogy1 therefore1 ere you scoff at the credulity of the geologist1 or the power of the rain-drop to transmit an image of itself through so many revolutions and ages of the earth's history4 ,how impalpable a substance is light6 how readily effaced its impressions1 or intercepted its brilliant colorings1 by the interposition of the frailest creation of matter--an insect's wing1 the covering of a leaf1 the disc of a flower-petal4 ,but the light1 thus easily obliterated or dimmed on earth1 has been maintaining its own solitary independent course through every medium1 every change1 of upper and netherworlds4 ,the moment of its efflux from remotest orb1 in depth of infinite space1 gave to every particle of that feebly or intensely luminous beam1 a separate being and direction1 with no return back to its parent source4 ,and now1 says the intelligent astronomer1 as it drops gently into the searcher of his telescope1 that is a ray from yon far distant unresolvable cluster of stars1 or of astral systems1 for millions of years traveling through these incalculable heights1 when as yet the ,chaldee sages had pointed no instrument to the heavens1 nor the learned of ,memphis recorded an observation4 ,can you deny to other matter1 argues the geologist1 a similar tenacity of self-preservation1 the vitality of impress which merely records the uniformity of the laws and constitution of nature1 and which intimates that1 through all past time1 there were showers to cheer and to refresh the products of the earth8 ,truth becomes more marvelous than fiction when traced in researches such as these--showing the illimitable range over time and space permitted to human inquiry--and producing1 at the same time1 things both of heaven and of earth scarcely to be dreamt of in human philosophy4 ,v4 ,but the economic and practically useful1 no less than the speculative or fanciful1 form constituents of the new red sandstone formation4 ,the strata are not only indented with impressions of strange and doubtful origin2 they inclose1 like those of the carboniferous system1 treasures of the greatest value2 and nature1 in ceasing to abound in one kind of product1 has been no less exuberant in others1 equally contributive to the comfort and convenience of man4 ,in this class of rocks are situated our great deposits of ,,rock-,,salt and gypsum1 of the former of which1 beside supplying the demands of the home market1 the mines of ,cheshire alone export from ,liverpool upward of half a million of tons weight4 ,the distribution of the saline mineral is very general over the earth1 and by no means constant in its geognostic position2 as1 for example1 in ,galicia1 it is found among the tertiary deposits2 in ,new ,york1 it occupies the middle of the silurians2 while in ,hungary1 ,poland1 and ,england1 it is uniformly associated with the new red sandstone4 ,rock-salt has been long known to and prized by mankind2 it became an object of taxation or tribute six hundred and forty years before the ,christian era1 as narrated of ,ancus ,martins1 8salinarum vectigal instituit20 and hence centuries afterward1 when ,great ,britain was in possession of the ,romans1 the legions received salt as part of their pay or 8salary40 ,our richest mines are in ,cheshire1 and along the districts watered by the ,dee1 the ,weaver1 and the ,mersey4 ,the beds1 or rather masses1 are imperfectly stratified1 and vary in thickness from a few inches to #abj feet and upward3 gypsum and variegated marls may be regarded as constants in the formation1 the gypseous deposits sometimes attaining the enormous depth of #aej feet4 ,we speak of the beds of gypsum as deposits1 in common with those of the sandstone matrix in which they are imbedded4 ,it appears1 however1 on inquiring into the theory of their origin1 that they are not strictly such in the true sense of deposits--originally as gypseous deposits--but altered limestones1 metamorphosed by the action of gases which have escaped from beneath1 and permeated the calcareous mass4 ,the carbonates of lime have been converted into the sulphates of lime1 by means of gaseous emanations produced in unknown volcanic depths4 ,even the dolomitic member of the group is supposed to have a like metamorphic origin2 the needful elementary agencies having entered into the parent limestone1 and converted it into the magnesian type4 ,why nature should not have done these things directly1 at the first off-throw1 science could not1 perhaps1 very satisfactorily answer the skeptically inquiring mind2 but1 as the ingredients are all chemically well known1 and more especially as there is a vast laboratory ever at work1 filled with all kinds of elements1 in her subterranean regions1 any hypothesis of formation is as rapidly established as it is conceived1 and the interest of the subject humanly speaking augmented4 ,the celebrated ,berzelius1 when questioned on the point1 had his ready solution of the problem1 easily derived from his unparalleled stores of chemical knowledge3--8,give me a substance containing sulphur--admit the presence of the vapors of sulphur1 or sulphurous or sulph-hydrous vapors1--let limestone be also present1 and water on the surface or in the atmosphere1 ,,and ,,we ,,shall ,,readily ,,have ,,gypsum40 ,the origin of the saltness of the ocean is still a mystery in science2 equally involved in doubt and conjecture is that of the other member of the series1 the rock-salt formation4 ,the generally adopted theory1 however1 is1 that it was dependent on volcanic agency for development1 as it both contains1 and is uniformly associated with1 the acids1 and other materials found in connection with volcanoes4 ,the chlorides of sodium and gypsum1 for example1 are at present sublimed from volcanic vents2 vapors charged with sulphuric acid are constantly issuing from the same sources2 and these passing through or associated with the saline waters of the period1 must have aided in the formation of rock-salt and gypsum1 which occur more frequently in irregular masses than in true stratified deposits4 ,an additional corroboration of the theory is inferred from the circumstance1 that the gypsum accompanying the rock-salt is anhydrous1 that is1 free from water before exposure to the action of the atmosphere4 ,hence the conclusion1 that the consolidation of both the rock-salt and the gypsum must have been effected by the agency of heat1 as1 by means of aqueous deposition1 a hydrometric influence would have been sensibly perceived4 ,wonderful certainly is all this--the inclosing1 the consolidation1 the arrangement of these remarkable substances4 ,the sea1 in the first instance1 may readily and abundantly have supplied all the elements of the formation2 but how collected and retained1 crystallized and incrusted1 layer upon layer1 over the rocky bottom and volcanic inner chambers1 are points still of nice geological inquiry4 ,the celebrated salt mines of ,cracow1 in ,poland1 are wondrous operations of the art of man1 into the still more wondrous products and recesses of nature4 ,here the entire arrangements of a city are almost perfected2 the streets1 marketplace1 chapel1 rivers1 reservoirs1 grottoes1 and all the requirements of comfort and safety gleaming in a blaze of saline crystals4 8,scoop'd in the briny rock long streets extend ,their hoary course1 and glittering domes ascend2 ,down the bright steeps1 emerging into day1 ,impetuous fountains burst their headlong way1 ,o'er milk-white vales in ivory channels spread1 ,and wondering seek their subterraneous bed4 ,long lines of lusters pour their trembling rays1 ,and the bright vault returns the mingled blaze40 ,the deposit near ,cracow is worked on four different levels or stories1 divided into innumerable compartments1 with thousands of excavations in every direction1 and descending to the vast depth of one thousand feet below the surface4 ,the length of the several passages1 in their windings and turnings1 is calculated to be nearly three hundred miles2 about two thousand men are constantly employed in the mining operations2 and1 though the operations have been carrying on for the known period at least of six hundred years1 the mass of rock-salt in the locality is still of inexhaustible extent4 ,the mines in our own land are equally remarkable after their kind1 and cannot fail to interest1 if not to astonish1 the neophyte who ventures a descent4 ,from the mode in which they are worked1 the huge pillars left to support the roof1 the thousand lights that illuminate the caverns1 the reverberations from the blasting which at intervals ring through their depths1 a grandeur and impressiveness are imparted to a scene which scarcely any other combination of objects could produce4 ,and another world--a world of coal and iron--in all its magnificence and riches1 lies interred under these glistering stores of lime and salt6 ,how strangely contrasting in their qualities and structure the two formations4 ,but except that a wise and far-seeing ,providence collected and garnered up the waste and decay of both for man's use1 no principle have we to guide us when speculating on their mineral properties and arrangement--no natural law certainly1 self-acting upon matter and evolving new creations of its own1 organic or inorganic1 to reveal ,his inscrutable purposes4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,oolitic ,,or ,,jurassic ,,system--,,age ,,of ,,reptiles4 ,when one is about to travel1 or to undertake a journey of any distance from the daily beat of home1 it is very seldom indeed that he puts into his pocket a book of science4 ,voyages1 travels1 a review at most1 or the newest novel1 may fill up a spare place in the portmanteau3 anything that requires study1 or would draw upon the reflective faculties1 can be no fitting companion for the occasion1 with at least nine-tenths of our moving public4 ,if the preceding pages have been perused with any attention at all1 it is to be hoped that other things will be considered as worthy of a passing glance1 as sure we are they cannot fail to be replete with lessons of instructive wisdom4 ,on the ground of mere ephemeral curiosities by the way1 geological matters claim consideration4 ,they are exhaustless1 too1 and ever varying as you proceed4 ,when you imagine that the last mountain rock or quarry contained the whole catalogue of ,natural ,history1 and showed you more than ,goldsmith1 or ,buffon1 you find that over the next ridge1 or in the neighboring field1 there are new subjects for study1 and still renewing matters for wonder4 ,if you have taken up your abode for the night at classic ,rugby1 at sporting ,melton-mowbray1 or among the academic bowers of ,oxford1 there are objects all around1 in every hill-side1 ravine1 or railway section1 to fill you at once with admiration and astonishment4 ,go1 inquire of that rock4 ,it is the lias limestone2 beyond it1 and at no great distance1 lies the oolite2 and there1 in the immediate vicinity of both1 you have the ,stonesfield slate4 ,we invite you to examine any one of these common-place looking stones2 and not in ,gulliver1 not in the history of the ,knight of ,la ,mancha1 not in all the ,mysteries of ,udolpho1 not in the ,romance of the ,forest whose harmonious periods so charmed our youth1 will you find anything to compare with the marvels therein to be disclosed4 ,the machinery of a tale may require the aid of giants and genii1 but here is 8truth without fiction10 more startling1 marvelous1 and so beyond the bounds of nature as now felt and seen1 that the most daring fancy is utterly outstripped in its loftiest flights into the regions of the ideal4 ,the series of beds which constitute the mineral features of this extensive district contains the full development of the reptilian type to which we were introduced in the last chapter4 ,animals there are in these rocks1 with forms and features1 so fantastic1 and apparently disproportioned1 that the tales of the most unscrupulous traveler would suffer in comparison4 ,and in truth1 there is no page in the book of nature--none1 certainly1 in all the works of man--so fraught with wonders1 or remarkable for stirring incident1 as the epoch of animal life whose history is there inscribed4 ,i4 ,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,the ,,rocks4 ,the oolitic or ,jurassic system1 like that of the new red sandstone1 comprises the subdivisions of two well-marked natural groups1 in which the lias or lower series is included4 ,in point of geographical range1 the oolite formation is extensively distributed over the surface of the globe2 in mineral character it is varied in every possible degree of texture and composition2 in geognostic arrangement there are intercalations1 without end1 of marine and terrestrial detritus2 the organic remains are in the greatest profusion1 both as to diversity of type and increase of new creations2 and1 locally1 such has been the appreciation of its various members1 that there is scarcely a town or parish in the south-eastern part of ,england1 that has not received from or given habitations and name to1 some one of its numerous subdivisions4 ,resting upon the triassic formation1 there are bands of lias shales1 limestones1 sandy and ferruginous strata1 and upper shales1 including nodular concretions and beds of limestone4 ,this series is distributed over the counties of ,york1 ,northampton1 ,somerset1 and ,dorset4 ,the next are the lower oolites1 which comprise an extensive series of calcareous1 concretionary sands and sandstones1 limestone1 thin seams of coal and ligneous clays1 and the ,cornbrash limestone1 which in many localities is a mere aggregation of shells and other marine exuvi4 ,the ,stonesfield slate1 the ,forest marble1 and the ,fuller's earth beds1 are included in the group1 ranging along the ,yorkshire coast1 through ,northampton1 ,oxford1 and ,gloucester shires2 and in ,scotland we have their equivalents in the ,brora coal and oolitic limestone of ,sutherlandshire1 ,skye1 and the adjacent islands4 ,the middle oolite succeeds1 which includes the ,oxford clay1 the ,kelloway rock1 and the coral-rag1 all more or less distinguished by their profusion and peculiarity of fossils1 chiefly shells1 echini1 and corals4 ,the whole formation terminates in two well known deposits1 the ,kimmeridge clay and ,portland oolite1 with its bands of green and red sands1 layers of chert and drift-wood4 ,this group prevails in ,oxfordshire1 ,berks1 ,wilts1 ,bucks1 and the ,isle of ,portland2 the matrix of fossilized reptilia1 fishes1 and cycadeous plants4 ,the term ,,oolite or roestone1 as applied to the whole of the groups enumerated above1 is derived from the resemblance between the small rounded grains of which the limestones are generally composed1 and the roe of a fish4 ,the ,jura mountains1 which divide ,france from ,switzerland1 consist mainly of these deposits1 and hence ,jurassic--the ,terrains ,jurrassiques of continental geologists4 ,the word lias is simply a corruption of liers 7layers71 and has from time immemorial been applied to the rocks of this group4 ,their relation and order of superposition are fully brought out along the sections of the ,great ,western ,railway from ,london to ,bath4 ,the ,birmingham line from ,derby by ,rugby to the metropolis intersects nearly every member of the series1 until they are covered about ,wallingford by the chalk4 ,when one looks at these innumerable bands of rock1 and the great diversity of earthy matter of which they are composed1 the mind becomes utterly overwhelmed by the rapidity and vastness of the changes which1 during this epoch1 occurred upon the surface of the globe4 ,a turbid1 and often agitated1 condition of the waters in which they were deposited is very clearly indicated4 ,the animals of the period were manifestly of a class peculiarly adapted to the impregnated element1 the slimy banks1 and shallows which prevailed4 ,the flora was abundant1 of a kind1 and produced in circumstances1 favorable for the formation of a lignite coal4 ,the spasmodic action which prevailed after the deposition of the carboniferous beds had not entirely subsided at the ,permian period4 ,the change was of too violent a kind to have been brought about without great internal1 as well as external1 commotion4 ,we find1 accordingly1 in most districts1 that the rocks of this class are upturned and disrupted4 ,the detritus of the new red sandstone and magnesian limestone1 thereby occasioned1 would go to form new land during the submergence of such portions of the surface as were retained beneath the waters4 ,the oscillations were numerous and frequent1 corresponding with the aggregate of beds which compose the system2 while the quality and arrangement of the sediment point to changes and alterations in sea-levels1 river courses1 land boundaries1 estuaries1 the size and distribution of the basins into which the alluvia were transported4 ,the geographic extent1 combined with the frequently insulated position of the oolitic series1 clearly demonstrates a vast alteration in the bed of the ocean1 as well as in the ridges and elevations which gave diversity to the land4 ,the oolites1 in fact1 constitute vast calcareous reefs1 raised upon the inverted strata of the older formations1 which formed the cliffs and headlands of a sea swarming with lizards and crocodilians1 and over whose thick umbrageous banks roamed the flying pterodactyle1 watching or perhaps escaping from1 the singular saurians that reposed in the thickets beneath4 ,the substitution of the pyritous clays for the saliferous marls2 the dark argillaceous oolites and blue mottled lias for the yellow crystalline dolomite1 is in harmony and keeping with the plants and animals which now1 for the first time1 sprang into existence4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,organic ,,remains are very abundant1 and in both plants and animals there are various new kinds4 ,of the former are the cycade1 allied to the existing pine-apple2 also the lilace1 and some other undescribed genera4 ,with regard to animals1 this has been emphatically called 8the age of reptiles10 along with which there are new families of fishes1 crustacea1 mollusca1 and corals4 ,the warm-blooded animals now for the first time appear1 of which there are two genera1 the ,amphitherium and ,phascolotherium1 found in the ,stonesfield slate near ,oxford1 and considered1 by analogy of structure1 to be allied to the marsupials that inhabit the ,australian continent4 ,the same interesting locality has furnished two new genera of insects1 the ,prionus ,ooliticus and ,coccinella ,wittsii2 in the lias1 of different places1 eleven genera and species have been discovered1 but of which only wings and fragments have been obtained4 ,a perfect specimen of this order has recently been found1 by the ,rev4 ,p4 ,b4 ,brodie1 in the upper lias1 near ,cheltenham1 resembling the genus diplax2 but so shattered in the head1 that its precise character cannot be determined4 ,the reptilians supply alike new terrestrial and marine tortoises and turtles--lizards1 whose arms and legs were provided with a filmy membrane1 like bats1 to enable them to fly--amphibious saurians1 and water saurians unlike anything now in existence4 ,contrast this catalogue with the few organic remains to be met with in the preceding period1 and ask what called such a newly-inhabited world into being8 ,the face of nature1 so remarkably elaborated out of the waste and decay of these old stony materials1 is moving all over with life--replenished1 so far as yet discovered1 with seventy-five generic and specific forms of new vegetation--a hundred and ten new forms of hard-working corallines--seven hundred and thirteen genera and species of the shelly tribes1 from the simplest to the most complicated of the chambered orders--a hundred and sixty distinct races of fishes1 placoids and ganoids--three varieties of the most strangely constructed mammalian quadrupeds1 with thirteen kinds of insects to titillate and keep them in action--and all this array of organic life moving side by side with forty families of gigantic reptiles1 herbivorous and carnivorous1 creeping1 swimming1 and flying6 ,the wonders of art have nothing to compare with this4 ,the structure of a blade of grass will not suffer an atheist to live4 ,during the six thousand years of man's existence1 one new living thing1 of any order or type1 has not been called into being4 ,astronomy is daily adding to her achievements1 and penetrating farther among the systems of the universe2 but the nebular theory of creation is gone1 and the new-world germs will not expand at its fanciful bidding4 ,geology nobly bears testimony in every page to the rule of one supreme intelligent ,creator--an exuberance of life and forms which announces the authoritative interposition of ,him 8,whose word leaps forth at once to its effect2 ,who calls for things that are not--and they come40 ,and the mandate goes forth1 in that awful simplicity of ,,omnipotence1 which learning cannot mystify nor ignorance overlook4 ,this formation abounds in the remains of radiata1 mollusca1 and crustacea1--all of them differing specifically from those of the older secondary strata4 ,the gigantic crinoidea of the carboniferous age have disappeared1 succeeded only by a few dwarfish specimens of the apiocrinite and pentacrinite1 while the ammonites mark an increase of nearly two hundred species1 preserved in the most perfect state in the shales and limestones of the lias and oolite4 ,illustration3 #a4 ,ammonites obtusus2 #b4 ,section of ,ammonites obtusus1 showing the interior chambers and siphuncle2 #c4 ,ammonites nodosus4 ,the term ,ammonite has been bestowed upon this remarkable shell-fish from its fancied resemblance to the curved horn on the head of the statue of ,jupiter-,ammon4 ,the spiral form of the shell is divided into several chambers or compartments1 all of which are connected by means of an interior tube or siphuncle4 ,it belongs to the order of ,cephalopoda1 among which are included ancyloceros1 belemnites1 nautilus1 orthoceratite1 and other many-chambered shells4 ,like the nautilus1 the ammonite was gifted with a singular apparatus by which it could pursue its instincts either at the bottom or on the surface of the element in which it lived4 ,the organs of motion were arranged round the head 7hence the name cephalopoda72 and1 by the nicely adaptive arrangements of nature1 the outer chamber of the shell was capable of retaining the entire body of the animal1 while the interior chambers were hollow1 thereby rendering the whole structure of nearly the same specific gravity with the waters in which it moved4 ,an elastic tube passing through the siphuncle connected the cavity of the heart with the extremity of the shell1 which enabled the animal to contract or expand itself as its exigencies required4 ,being filled with a dense fluid1 excreted by the glandular organs1 the creature1 when alarmed or wishing to descend1 withdrew itself within the outer chamber1 whereby the contraction of the tube forced the fluid from the heart into the siphuncle1 and increasing the gravity enabled it to descend to the bottom4 ,upon a reversal of the process--the simple projection of the arms of the head1 and the consequent expansion of the body--the ammonite rose with equal facility to the surface1 disporting itself at will in its native element4 ,with a view to resist the pressure1 when at the bottom1 a provision was made by means of the arch-form in the structure of the shell2 and1 additionally1 by the insertion of a series of transverse ribs1 which comprise all the mechanical contrivances for giving strength and solidity which are sought by the divisions and subdivisions in the vaulted roofs of our ,gothic architecture4 ,the geographical distribution of the ammonite partakes of the universality so marked in the vegetable economy of the carboniferous age1 the same species even being common to ,europe1 ,asia1 ,north and ,south ,america2 and always1 along with all its numerous congeners1 manifesting the most striking examples of that adaptation of means to ends which prevails in every department of creation4 ,we shall now select a few details of the more remarkable of the reptilian types of this period1 referring the reader to the ample and graphic descriptions of ,buckland1 ,conybeare1 ,mantell1 ,phillips1 and more especially to the ,reports of ,professor ,owen1 in the volumes published by the ,british ,association in #ahdj-'a4 ,illustration3 ,ichthyosaurus communis4 #a4 ,the first genus to be noticed is termed the ,ichthyosaurus1 which partakes at once of the characters of crocodiles1 lizards1 and fishes4 ,so lavish has nature been in providing for the accommodation and wants of this anomalous creature1 that to the paddles of a whale1 is added the sternum of an ornithorhynchus2 the head of a lizard is joined to the vertebr of a fish2 and the snout of a porpoise is combined with the jaws and teeth of a crocodile4 ,the magnitude of the eye is prodigious1 and the jaws1 sometimes exceeding six feet in length1 are studded with an apparatus of teeth1 amounting in some instances1 to a hundred and eighty4 8,from the quantity of light admitted in consequence of the prodigious size of the eye10 says ,dr4 ,buckland1 8it must have possessed very great powers of vision3 we have also evidence that it had both microscopic and telescopic properties4 ,we find on the front of the orbital cavity1 in which this eye was lodged10--a cavity sometimes fourteen inches in diameter1--8a circular series of petrified thin bony plates1 ranged round a central aperture1 where once was placed the pupil2 the form and thickness of each of these plates very much resembles that of the scales of the artichoke4 ,it also tends to associate the animal in which it existed1 with the family of lizards1 and exclude it from that of fishes40 ,these bony plates gave strength to the surface of the eye-ball1 which required protection above and below1 from the dashing of the waves when it reared its head to the storm1 and from the pressure of deep water when it scoured the bottom4 ,the nostrils1 it would seem1 were placed so close to the anterior angle of the eye1 as to render it impossible to breathe without raising the organs of sight to the surface of the water4 ,an ocean1 peopled with such monsters6 ,imagine so many eyes1 larger than a man's head studding its surface1 and illuminating1 as with fire-balls1 their terrific jaws1 glaring out from the briny flood2 and what a scene to gaze upon1 so different from all that now covers these rich alluvial plains6 ,illustration3 ,plesiosaurus4 #b4 ,the ,plesiosaurus is allied in some respects to the former1 but in other points differs so materially1 and possesses characters so strange1 as to claim for it a degree of monstrosity unparalleled1 even amid the ruins of the old world4 ,here we have the union of the serpent and chameleon1 with a trunk and tail having the proportions of an ordinary quadruped4 ,the mechanism of the lungs and ribs is peculiar1 showing that the animal must have breathed with such force and rapidity1 as to have rendered the color of the skin changeable1 like the chameleon or dying dolphin4 ,the neck bore a resemblance to that of the swan2 the feet and motions were allied to those of the turtle2 and1 from the varied intensity of its inspirations1 it is conjectured that the creature inhabited the shallow pools and marshy waters along the coast4 ,the body would thus be concealed among the rank vegetable aquatics2 while1 with its long flexible neck1 it would be prepared suddenly to pounce upon its prey4 ,mr4 ,conybeare compares the ,plesiosaurus to a turtle stripped of its shell2 and the ribs1 being connected by transverse abdominal processes1 present a close analogy to those of the chameleon4 ,ichthyosauri and ,plesiosauri have been found in the secondary strata1 from the lias to the chalk inclusive2 of the former1 twelve species are known and described1 and nearly twenty of the latter4 ,the most remarkable of the enalio-saurii or marine reptiles1 is the ,plesiosaurus-dolichodeirus1 discovered in the lias of ,lyme-,regis1 and which is fertile in the remains of all the animals of that remote and wonder-producing epoch4 ,illustration3 ,pterodactyle4 #c4 ,another example1 taken from the lias1 is of its kind even more startling than either of the preceding4 ,this consists of the remains of an animal called the ,pterodactyle1 or flying reptile1 which1 more than anything ever conceived or bred in poet's brain1 resembles what ,milton must have intended1 when to the great arch-fiend he gave a form and flexibility of body1 that 8,swims1 or sinks1 or wades1 or creeps1 or flies40 ,certainly each and one of all these evolutions the ,pterodactyle could execute1 and he was amply provided with the fitting instruments to perform them4 ,this animal possessed a head intermediate betwixt that of a bird and a reptile1 which in both cases is comparatively small1 and offering the least resistance to the medium through which it passed1 in quest whether of pleasure or subsistence4 ,the hands were of the most prehensile character1 adapted by the claws attached at once to fix and firmly grasp its prey1 and1 when needed for pursuit1 to swing itself squirrel-like from branch to branch1 and from tree to tree4 ,the wings resembled those of the bat1 but in length and size allied to nothing in existing nature1 and finding their match only among the dragons of romance4 ,then1 as to feet and limbs1 these were of such a construction as to allow the animal safely to repose after its toils in a standing position on the ground1 or to perch on trees1 or to climb on rocks1 or disport from cliff to cliff4 ,the eyes were large2 the wings terminated in fingers1 from which projected long hooks2 the beak was furnished with about sixty sharp piercing teeth4 ,no wonder that naturalists were astonished at such heterogenous combinations1 as they rose upon their sight-- 8,that look not like the inhabitants o' the earth2 ,and yet are on't20 and knew not whether to ascribe them to the air1 or the earth1 or the domain of waters4 ,but1 in the hands of ,cuvier1 the entire structure and relations of the several parts of the framework have been explained and developed2 the libellul and other insects on which they fed have been detected in the same rocks with their own relics2 and out of that apparent mass of inconsistencies and contradictions1 the genius of the skillful anatomist has produced one of the most striking examples of the harmony that pervades all nature1 that has been extended through all ages1 and that manifests the bounteous care of the common ,creator in adapting all living things1 each after its kind1 to the conditions of its existence4 #d4 ,the ,stonesfield strata belong to the lower division of the great oolite4 ,the slate of the district has been long known and prized for roofing purposes4 ,the village of ,stonesfield lies about twelve miles to the north-west of ,oxford1 beautifully situated on the brow of a valley1 both sides of which have been deeply excavated for the extraction of the slate4 ,woodstock and ,blenheim are both in the vicinity1 neither of whose remarkable heroes ever dreamed of the mighty wars1 waged in a far distant age from their own1 by the fierce assailants whose remains have now been disturbed by these operations4 ,here are abundant the remains of palms1 aborescent ferns1 seed-vessels1 leaves1 stems of several genera of conifer1 and traces of reeds and grasses4 ,wings and their cases1 the elytra of beetles1 and other relics of insects1 are mingled with the teeth1 scales1 fin-bones1 rays of fishes1 in the greatest profusion4 ,and here1 on the site of this ancient menagerie or battle-field1 are the only known vestiges of mammalian animals in the secondary formations4 ,one set of these remains resembles the ,wombat1 a marsupial didelphys of ,new ,south ,wales2 the other remains indicate a small insectivorous mammal1 the ,amphitherium1 with thirty teeth in the lower jaw4 ,australia1 therefore1 supposed to furnish evidence of an entirely new order of things1 has been long anticipated in all its types of plants and animals by the denizens of our own land--our waters swarming with cestraceonts1 trigoni1 and terebratul--and our fields clothed with araucari and cycadeous plants--when perhaps but little of that continent rose above the waters4 #e4 ,the ,,dinosauria constitute a tribe or sub-order of the lacertians1 characterized by the large development of the sacrum1 the dorsal vertebr1 the bones of the extremities1 which are all provided with large medullary cavities4 ,of this tribe there are three well established genera--the ,megalosaurus1 the ,hylosaurus1 and the ,iguanodon4 ,these were the gigantic crocodile lizards of the dry land1 whose peculiarities of osteological structure distinguish them as clearly from the modern terrestrial and amphibious sauria1 as the opposite modifications for an aquatic life1 characterize the extinct enaliosauria1 or marine lizards4 ,the ,dinosaurians belong properly to the ,wealden fresh water formations1 which may be regarded as the true habitat of this order of terrestrial fossil reptiles4 ,the ,megalosaurus was first described by ,cuvier1 and the family determined2 he calculated the dimensions of the animal at from forty to fifty feet in length4 ,professor ,owen1 from better preserved specimens1 has reduced it to thirty feet long3 the head is five feet1 the length of trunk with sacrum thirteen feet1 and the tail about the same1 allowing the ,megalosaur to have had the same number of caudal vertebr as the crocodile4 ,the sacrum consisted of five anchylosed vertebr1 new in saurian anatomy3 the hind-legs measure two yards1 a metatarsal bone thirteen inches2 the teeth are of corresponding dimensions1 and curve backward in the form of a pruning-knife4 ,the structure of the jaw indicates a long projecting snout1 while the curvature of the teeth fitted them to retain like barbs the prey which they had once penetrated4 ,all the organs of the monster declare the ,megalosaur to have been a land animal1 of carnivorous propensities1 and in all probability performed1 as headsman the same office upon the smaller herd of reptiles1 sometimes making a snatch at a ,plesiosaur1 as both in turn did upon fishes and crustaceans4 ,the sport of an ,indian jungle is child's play compared to the onslaught of these grim kings amidst their ancient preserves4 ,the remains occur in the deposits at ,malton in ,yorkshire1 ,cuckfield in ,sussex1 ,bath1 the ,purbeck limestone1 ,tilgate ,forest1 and the ,wealden4 ,the next genus of the land reptiles was remarkable for the size of the horny plates by which the body was protected4 ,this is the ,hylosaurus--that is1 forest-reptile--about twenty-five feet long1 and covered with a series of large1 flat1 and pointed bones4 ,these vary in length from five to seventeen inches1 and are from three to seven and a half inches in breadth4 ,in addition1 as showing the kind of warfare to which he was exposed1 a ridge of thick thorny scales pass along the back1 and form an enormous dermal fringe1 like the spines on the back of the living iguana tribes4 ,the skeleton of the ,hylosaur has been found nearly entire1 and all the parts in almost natural juxtaposition4 ,the ,wealden of ,tilgate ,forest1 the deposits at ,bolney and ,battle of the same formation1 contain the remains in considerable abundance4 ,what shall be said of the next figure that crosses the tragic stage1 during this age of tyrant prodigies8 ,the ,iguanodon--a gigantic herbivorous lizard--is related to a family of harmless creatures 7,iguana71 which swarm in the ,west ,indies1 and in all the tropical forests of ,america1 in certain peculiarities of the teeth greatly differing from those of other reptiles4 ,the largest of living ,iguanas1 do not exceed five feet in length3 the extinct genus attained a longitude of upward of twenty-eight to thirty feet4 ,the caudal member was about thirteen1 head three1 trunk with sacrum twelve1 and the girth of the body about fifteen feet4 ,the teeth resemble the teeth of the rhinoceros as to bulk and general appearance1 and1 consisting as they do of incisors and molars1 were recognized to belong to the order of herbivorous quadrupeds4 ,the thigh-bone exceeds that of the largest-sized elephant1 being from four to five feet in height1 and presenting a circumference of nearly two feet in its smallest part4 ,this animal1 at its first discovery1 was supposed to have attained the exaggerated proportions of nearly a hundred feet in length4 ,but even under the reduced dimensions and more accurate deductions of ,professor ,owen1 confirmed by those of ,dr4 ,mantell1 there is still size sufficient1 as well as peculiarities of structure1 to lead us to regard it as one of the wonders of geology4 ,one femur of a recently-discovered ,iguanodon is twenty-seven inches in circumference1 and must have been nearly five feet in length2 and a tibia1 found with the same1 is four feet long4 ,dr4 ,melville has established the important physiological fact1 that the cervical and anterior dorsal vertebr were convexo-concave1--that is1 convex in front and concave behind1 as in the existing pachyderms2 while the reverse form1 the concavo-convex1 predominates in the existing crocodilians and lizards4 ,it is farther established1 that in the ,iguanodon1 as in many fossil and recent reptiles1 the anterior extremities were much shorter and less bulky than the posterior4 ,as in the existing family1 so in the extinct1 the huge body was ornamented with a horn of bone which projected from the nose4 ,this nasal organ seems to have been worn more for decoration than for use2 unless1 perhaps1 to assist in perforating its way through the thickets of vegetation on which it subsisted1 to push aside an unwelcome intruder upon his pasturage1 or as a mere set-off against the unprecedented length of tail4 ,imagine a herd of these monsters feeding in a prairie--the denizens of a period when all things partook of the gigantic6 8,the concurrence of peculiarities so remarkable10 says ,buckland1 8as the union of this nasal horn with a mode of dentition of which there is no example1 except in the ,iguanas1 affords one of the many proofs of the universality of the laws of co-existence1 which prevailed no less constantly throughout the extinct genera and species of the fossil world1 than they do among the living members of the animal kingdom40 ,professor ,owen writes--8,no reptile now exists which combines a complicated and thecodont dentition with limbs so proportionally large and strong1 having such well-developed marrow-bones1 and sustaining the weight of the trunk by sychondrosis or anchylosis to so long and complicated a sacrum1 as in the order ,dinosauria4 ,the ,megalosaurus and ,iguanodons1 rejoicing in these undeniably most perfect modifications of the reptilian type1 attained the greatest bulk1 and must have played the most conspicuous parts1 in their respective characters as devourers of animals and feeders upon vegetables1 that this earth has ever witnessed in oviparous and cold-blooded creatures4 ,they were as superior in organization and in bulk to the crocodiles that preceded them as to those which came after them40 #f4 ,we close our enumeration of these fossils by simply stating1 that the ,,crocodilians also flourished at this period4 ,the living species are twelve in number1 all remarkable for the size of their mouth1 and their exuberant abundance of teeth4 ,the extinct species were nearly as numerous1 but all more allied to the gavials of ,new ,holland than to the other members of the family4 ,they seem chiefly to have subsisted on fishes1 while their modern congeners are furnished with powers which enable them to prey upon mammalia and other quadrupeds4 ,when ,hobbes1 the philosopher of ,malmesbury--the old haunt of all these monsters--adopted the title 8leviathan0 for his political and anti-,christian views1 he did it more in derision of the name than from any belief that such things as the term represents had ever or could ever have existed 8in rerum natura40 ,persons1 even now1 to whom the subject is presented for the first time1 will turn with aversion from its details under the influence of the very opposite feelings from those of the infidel metaphysician4 ,the evidence of facts however1 will yield neither to prejudices nor to theories4 ,and1 while we dream not of representing the patriarch of ,uz as drawing his inferences from geology1 still his mind was alive to convictions of the grandeur and diversity of the works of creation--to a sense of his own ignorance--and filled at the same time with awe and veneration at the unsearchable wisdom of the ways of ,providence4 8,,stand ,,still ,,and ,,consider ,,the ,,wondrous ,,works ,,of ,,god4 ,,hast ,,thou ,,entered ,,into ,,the ,,springs ,,of ,,the ,,sea8 ,,hast ,,thou ,,perceived ,,the ,,breadth ,,of ,,the ,,earth8 ,,declare1 ,,if ,,thou ,,knowest ,,it ,,all40 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,wealden ,,formation4 ,the ,wealden formation is more local than any of the deposits we have yet considered4 ,the term has a particular reference to the district features of ,kent1 ,surrey1 ,sussex1 and ,hampshire1 known as the ,wolds1 from the ,german wald1 signifying a wood or forest3 and as the geological position of the group is in immediate superior connection with the oolites1 and inferior to the chalk1 the character and history of the ,wealden fall to be given in this place4 ,the ,specton clay of ,yorkshire1 displayed along the cliffs adjoining ,filey ,bay1 is considered to belong to the same series as the gault or blue and gray marls of ,cambridge1 ,kent and ,sussex2 but it contains some characteristic indications of the ,kimmeridge clay1 and1 therefore1 we should expect that1 in ,yorkshire1 these two strata are not separated as in the south of ,england4 ,i4 ,,nature ,,and ,,extent ,,of ,,the ,,deposit4 ,the ,wealden is a fresh water or estuary formation1 as is clearly established by its fossils as well as by its lithology4 ,the group consists of layers of clay1 sand1 shale1 with subordinate beds of limestone1 grit1 and friable sandstone4 ,the ,hastings sands1 ,tilgate ,forest beds1 ,tunbridge ,wells deposits1 and the ,ashburn lignite shales and ferruginous sands1 are all constituents of the series4 ,the ,dover ,railway traverses the formation between ,red ,hill and ,ashford3 the branch leading to ,tunbridge ,wells affords excellent sections of the clay and sands4 ,thus occupying1 in an irregular triangular form1 the south-east of ,england1 the wealden again emerges in the principality of ,hanover1 and other places in the north of ,germany3 continuing in the same course1 it is again found on the ,british shores1 occurring at ,linksfield1 near ,elgin4 ,it would not be easy to restore1 in imagination1 the surrounding aspect of the superficial area now occupied by patches of the wealden formation4 ,take your station on the ,peak of ,derby1 or ,shotover ,hill1 or the heights of ,ivanhoe--not so perilous adventure as that of the heroine of the tale on the battlements of ,malvoisin--and you overlook a vast extent of vale and woodland1 all then one broad expanse of water4 ,this inland sea filled the whole intermediate district traced above1 studded1 in all probability1 with islands1 and fringed with shallows and rich arborescent headlands4 ,sharks prowled and darted in every direction2 pterodactyles may be descried looming along the waste2 while in terror or in joy1 the plesiosaurus reared aloft his far-stretching neck1 and then withdrew into his fenny retreats4 ,the saurians1 with their strong muscular jaws1 are actively engaged1 each according to his kind1 by the shores or in the waters2 while over the busy scene1 the fierce-weltering ichthyosaurus looks in wild amazement1 his large eyes leaping in their sockets1 and spreading dismay among the tenants of the deep1 as even now1 when a kite enters a thorny brake1 or pursues his stealthy flight over the meadows and green fields of timid nestling bird4 ,nor would the land animals be less actively employed in maintaining the laws of their creation4 ,no skeletons of birds have yet been detected2 but their foot-prints1 we have seen1 are numerous4 ,these clouds of insects1 and other brilliant objects that flit with such rapidity across the sky1 have all been stirred1 and are leaping they know not whither1 for the tread of a monster's feet is heard through the forest1 mailed in plated horn thicker than ,ajax's shield1 and1 pursued by another1 presses and plunges onward in reckless haste4 ,imagine the many encounters during a single season between one set of the terrestrials only1 the saurians2 of the class1 there are the remains of the megalosaurus1 the great saurian--of the geosaurus1 the land saurian--of the hylosaurus1 the forest saurian--of the teleosaurus1 the perfect saurian1--all fitted with jaws and teeth1 most cruelly bent on mischief1 and restrained by no brotherly sympathies when accident or bold defiance bring them in the way of each other4 ,the fell onslaughts of generous man1 tribe against tribe1 clan to clan1 nation to nation1 for some inconceivable nothing or unintended provocation1 recorded within the brief historical epoch1 may reconcile one to a picture of the irrationals similarly engaged1 and throughout periods of time sufficient for the deposition of the entire oolitic series1 before which the rule of earthly dynasties shrinks into utter insignificance4 ,these depositions accomplished1 and successive races entombed within them1 there is evidence that the floor of the ocean was raised above the waters1 and that central ,europe presented1 all around1 a breast of high land4 ,there are various intercalations1 in the series of marine and terrestrial deposits as well as of fresh and salt water fossils4 ,violent internal convulsions prevailed throughout the period1 and the animals were all of a kind to care little for the war of the elements4 ,meanwhile a fresh water formation is completed in many places a thousand feet in thickness1 and consisting of a series of beds2 not continuous all round the shores of the oolitic detritus1 but confined to a few localities1 and characterized everywhere by its own group of organisms4 ,this is the wealden formation4 ,and the question arises1 ,how this series of fresh water clays1 and sands1 and grits1 was produced at a time when the sea prevailed so universally over the whole of continental ,europe1 and the eastern division of ,great ,britain8 ,the solution is simpler than at first sight might appear1 when viewed in connection with the existing distribution of all our great primary formations4 ,the extent of dry land was such as to furnish watershed for numerous rivers4 ,the mountains supplied the detrital matter4 ,this was brought to the river's mouth1 where it formed deltas2 or spread out on the floor of estuaries1 where it received the few marine fossils which are found in the formation4 ,cast your eye along the geological map of western ,europe1 and--in the mountains of ,wales1 the silurian district of the north-west of ,france1 the primary rocks of the tributaries of the ,elbe1 the ,hartz mountains1 and the gneiss and granites of ,sutherland and ,caithness--we have all the materials and requisites that are necessary for the silting process of the wealden1 its accumulation1 and geographical distribution as referred to in its range and extent4 ,the continuity of the coasts of ,france and ,england is herein supposed1 and1 upon geological data1 this is a matter of far simpler inference than the framing even of a political constitution that will stand a decade of the years of our fleeting pilgrimage4 ,the vision of ,plato's ,atlantis in the great ocean becomes in the geologist's creed a reality1 who believes that a vast continent must have existed on our south and west1 all now sunk and whelmed in the deep abyss4 ,a chain of islands would just indicate the positions of the ,alps1 the ,pyrenees1 the ,carpathians1 and the ,caucasian ranges1 all then overlooking central and eastern ,europe1 not yet elevated above the waves4 8,at this period10 says ,professor ,ansted1 8it is most probable that no great east and west subterranean movement had acted on the part of the earth's crust now above the water in the northern hemisphere1 and possibly the first intimation of such a disturbing force1 may be traced1 though faintly1 in the existence of a considerable estuary1 in which our wealden beds were deposited4 ,from the condition of the upper ,portland beds1 we find1 that1 just at the close of the oolitic period1 there were very numerous changes of level induced over a small area in the south-east of ,england1 then1 most likely1 not far from the coast line of a large continent40 ,it may seem to many presumptuous1 and beyond all the usual latitude of exaggerated description to attempt to dwell thus minutely on physical arrangements1 and a vegetable and animal economy1 so remote and beyond the sphere of observation4 ,remarkable enough that our great healing springs of ,bath1 ,cheltenham1 ,leamington1 ,tunbridge1 and ,harwich1 are all situated among1 or have their origin in1 the series of deposits we have been considering4 ,but the judgment1 more than the fancy1 is employed in studying the geography of the ancient world1 in looking out from the heights around1 and trying again to unite the waters and the dry land1 to recall the vanishing traces of former sea-marks1 and from the disinterred remains of the remarkable races that inhabited the island1 and swarmed around its coasts1 to contemplate the ways and doings of 8,that ,eternal ,mind1 ,who built the spacious universe1 and decked ,each part so richly with whate'er pertains ,to life1 to health1 to pleasure40 ,and these three blessings all are striving to maintain1 to restore1 or to acquire4 ,life1 health1 pleasure--these are the great stimulants to all human exertion1 and how best to promote them ought to be the aim of human study4 ,the suite of rocks which compose the carboniferous system is one clearly of pre-arrangement1 and designed for man's use4 ,the strata1 now beneath us1 as undeniably evince a like beneficent purpose4 ,the treasures of saline rock1 gypseous marls1 iron sands1 and pyritous clays1 may be mysterious all1 in their origin3 but their uses and their ends1 human wants and frailties have long since established4 ,the cravings of appetite satisfied1 every creature has an instinct1 which unerringly leads it to seek a remedy against injury and disease2 and a provision for the one equally with the other1 has been made by ,him who notices the sparrow in his fall1 and careth for the ravens of the desert4 ,slow of apprehension the mind1 that cannot discern in the strata under review1 a striking instance of foresight1 a gift of benevolent wisdom1 recesses long since stored with medicaments and restoratives for human frailties2 and1 though no angel now is there to trouble the waters1 a kind ,providence has designed them1 and a good heart will use them1 as tokens of its love4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,organic ,,remains are chiefly of a fluviatile and terrestrial character4 ,the beds in which they occur were deposited in the channel1 or delta1 of a river of great breadth1 and demonstrate the existence of a large extent of neighboring country4 ,these beds range from ,hastings into ,dorsetshire1 but are not found to the north of the ,thames4 ,in ,portland and the ,isle of ,wight they likewise exist with all their peculiar organisms in the greatest abundance4 ,in the latter locality1 the wealden beds form the cliffs between ,atherfield ,point and ,compton ,bay2 they also overhang the ,bay of ,sandown4 ,the ,purbeck beds and sands are well displayed at ,durdle ,cove1 ,warbarrow1 and ,swanage ,bays2 and in the ,vale of ,wardour the same strata are developed4 ,in every one of these beautiful1 picturesque1 accessible1 and very limited districts1 you have congregated specimens of the fauna and flora of rivers1 groves1 forests1 and plains1 which have no longer a place on the terraqueous globe4 ,compared with the living or extinct races they constitute a chapter in natural history nowhere else to be seen or studied4 ,thus of eight genera of plants in the wealden1 there are only four common to it and the oolites1 but not a single species4 ,of the hundreds of zoophytes in the older formation1 not one occurs in the newer4 ,twenty genera of insects existed in the period of the wealden1 one only of which is prolonged from the antecedent period of oolitic life2 one new genus of ,crustacean 7the ,cypris71 and five species2 while the conchifera have little in common1 save the mytilus and unio1 and both of which1 generically1 have been transmitted from the carboniferous era4 ,the fishes of the wealden consist of seven genera1 of which only one is new1 the ,sphenonchus4 ,the reptilians amount to eleven genera1 three of which present remains in the oolitic group1 ,cetiosaurus1 ,chelonia1 and ,megalosaurus--same species in both4 ,the ,cetiosaurus belongs to the whale race of animals1 and it is singular to find the tribe exhibiting the same stupidity1 or hardihood it may be1 in forsaking1 then as now1 their briny element1 and seeking a grave in the clays and sands of fresh water shoals6 ,the ,hylosaurus and ,iguanodon were both found in the ,tilgate ,forest beds1 but have been noticed under the fauna of the oolite series1 as probably living in the age of1 as they approach so closely in structure and size to1 the reptilian types of the deposit2 frequenting the woods and pastures1 while their mighty cotemporaries were following their instincts in the seas and lakes of the district4 ,it would thus appear that the close of the oolitic period of the earth's history resembles the close of the carboniferous period1 in the sudden transition from an exuberant to a remarkably barren display of vegetable fossils4 ,in the comparative scantiness of the sauroid family of fishes1 by which the outgoing of the coal era is likewise distinguished1 we may fancy another point of analogy in the diminution of the monstrous reptilians that appears to have taken place after this series of deposits4 ,may it be inferred that these two periods enjoyed a higher degree of temperature than has prevailed1 either before or since1 generally over the earth's surface1 and more certainly in these northern latitudes8 ,interred among the strata of both lie the remains of races1 vegetable and animal1 which have perished3 and what we describe by kindred names are confined to climes and regions basking near the equator1 and enlightened by other constellations4 ,then the alternating deposits of clay1 lime1 ironstone1 coal1 salt1 gypsum1 speak of lakes and estuaries1 rolling rivers and high lands no longer existing in these parts4 ,a few leaves of their annals are inscribed with forms of grotesque life1 and stirring activities1 which are there to attest the majesty of their revolutions4 ,geology1 in little more than twenty years1 has made the discovery1 collected the facts1 arranged and systematized the knowledge of the character and habits of the successive generations whose domain1 whether of land or water1 was so different from ours1 and now all passed away4 ,a higher temperature1 from central heat1 will not explain these facts1 for that should have prevailed more in the devonian1 and still more in the silurian periods1--and of this we have no evidence4 ,appearances would rather support an opposite conclusion4 ,the sweep of the comet again1 resorted to upon occasions1 may have destroyed1 but could not maintain1 such a state of things4 ,a change of the polar axis1 of the most inconsiderable extent1 is demonstrated to be highly improbable1 or almost impossible4 ,and now1 in the unwearied march of science1 often baffled but never cast down1 it has been announced as the probable solution of all the changes of the past1 ,,the ,,progression ,,of ,,the ,,whole ,,solar ,,system1 whereby the earth1 and all the sister planets1 are dragged through infinite space1 and brought successively within the sphere of new constellations--now in a hotter and now in a milder efflux of ether--combining its own with a more general movement in a universal whirl--and thus constantly subjected1 in all its parts1 to ever-varying external influences6 ,this1 at least1 is the ingenious theory of ,m4 ,poisson1 which1 he thinks1 will account for the central heat of the globe1 dipped for a time into a burning atmosphere1 and cooling off more rapidly on the surface1 and will give a no less plausible explanation as to the extent and frequency of change effected on the surface4 ,geology and astronomy become1 when viewed in this light1 correlative sciences1 and impart an illustrative interest to the researches of each other4 ,the lofty flights of the one are brought down1 as it were1 to more earthly things2 while the geologist1 on the other hand1 is lifted from his miry pit and downward studies1 to meditate on the 8sweet influences and bands0 that harmonize and link all the planets in their orbits1 and rejoices to see his own earth taking part in the eternal music of the spheres4 ,he is pleased to believe1 according to the view of the astronomer1 that this ball of stone and clay enjoys at times a vitality all over1 which warms and cherishes into life natant forms1 and creeping things1 and flying dragons1 whose development of powers could not have been sustained1 on so great a scale1 in the lower and less favored regions4 ,but while the cause may be adequate to the effect--and in the approximation to the truth there is a feeling of satisfaction1 an elevation of vision and elasticity of thought1 as 8,rays divine dart round the globe10 --still the speculation referred to belongs rather to the poetry than to the philosophy of science1 influencing the imagination more than the judgment1 and trenching on relations that lie beyond the field of legitimate research4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,cretaceous ,,system4 ,the history of our globe during the deposition of the ,,chalk ,,formation1 and the changes therewith connected1 have now to be considered4 ,by whatever causes effected--from whatever sources derived the materials--the line of demarkation is here complete4 ,the sands of ,africa1 suddenly converted into or drifted over by the snows of the ,alps1 would not present a greater diversity of outline than is the transition to the geologist1 when for the first time he steps into a chalk district1 and marks the obvious contrast with all the surrounding scenery4 ,from ,gloucester into ,wiltshire we pass1 as it were1 into a new zone of latitude4 ,the details contained in the two last chapters are in strict conformity with the laws of nature3 the animals connected with the epoch possessed functions of life and an external adaptation of things suited to each other4 ,similar arrangements exist at present under nearly similar circumstances3 the tropical animals bear a close affinity to the extinct races2 and show that1 however nature may contrive to display her exhaustless powers of invention in her forms of living creatures1 she still conforms to a type1 and has her limits of divergence4 ,the past and the present so agree in all essential points as clearly to demonstrate a wise and controlling agency1 a measure of enjoyment combined with an adjustment of figure1 which1 though approaching the marvelous1 has resulted from design and the profoundest intelligence4 ,accordingly1 the symptoms of the change we now witness are cotemporaneous4 ,with the cretaceous system are introduced new mineral conditions1 and along with these there are new forms of existence4 ,the animals of the chalk and oolite periods are essentially different--still generically shading1 indeed1 into each other--but so differing in species1 and the appearance for the first time of new creations1 as again to announce to us that we tread on sacred ground1 and witness in its arrangement and contents the direct agency of ,omnipotence4 ,we can form no opinion1 no notion whatever1 in these changes1 of the modus operandi4 ,we remark simply the effects2 and science1 amidst all its otherwise barren and useless details1 then achieves its loftiest purposes when it thus traces the footsteps and actings of the ,great ,first ,cause4 #a4 ,,range ,,and ,,structure ,,of ,,the ,,chalk ,,formation4 ,considered mineralogically1 this rock can never fail to arrest attention or inquiries1 even among the least observant1 as to its nature and origin4 ,there is no trace of it in the northern portion of the island2 and when one for the first time sees whole mountains of it1 his sensations are not a little exciting4 ,for our own part1 we felt as if we entered a new world when we gazed upon hills1 and their long-furrowed escarpments1 of this calcareous snow-drift4 ,our acquaintance with the mineral had hitherto been limited to the fragments with which we were wont to trace the lines of our schoolboy pastimes4 ,we got no deeper into its mysteries when1 on a higher scale of action1 we saw it delineate the diagram1 or run over the fluxional problem on the black-board in academy and college-hall4 ,but here6 and half an island is covered with these stores of knowledge and of industry4 ,nine or ten counties on a stretch1 from ,dorset to ,flamborough ,head1 and from ,bridport to ,deal1 are covered over1 and for hundreds of feet in depth1 with the milk-white earth2 and1 whichever way you turn and bend toward the ,capital1 there are ample opportunities for the study of this curious page of geological history4 ,the chalk beds are not composed of one uniform compact mass of the useful mineral itself1 which consists of nearly pure carbonate of lime1 of soft earthy texture4 ,geologically considered1 the cretaceous system comprises a series of green and ferruginous sands1 clays1 marls1 gray and white limestones2 and these again are arranged under three leading groups--chalk1 gault1 and green sand4 ,the chalk--properly so called--is subdivided into the upper and lower1--containing in the upper numerous veins and nodules of flint1 and varies in color through several intermediate hues1 until1 in its contact with trap1 it assumes a deep red4 ,the gault is an argillaceous deposit of stiff1 dark blue clays1 highly calcareous1 and effervesces freely with acids4 ,the green sand is a triple alternation of sands1 cherty limestone1 and friable sandstone1 with beds1 in some places of ocher and ,fuller's earth4 ,the whole series may be estimated at nearly two thousand feet in thickness1 formed in a deep sea basin1 the materials floating in very still waters1 and aggregated successively through the combined influence of mechanical1 chemical1 and organic agencies4 ,the mechanical influence is very apparent in the sands and marls1 which are evidently the spoils of islands and continents1 washed down by currents and floods of fresh water1 and deposited over an ancient ocean bed4 ,the chemical composition of the flints or concretionary nodules1 which give such a remarkable character and appearance often to the chalk1 is equally demonstrable2 from fifty to a hundred beds of chalk1 pure and beautifully white1 will sometimes be seen alternating with as many bands of dark-colored flints1 all regularly arranged as cannon-shot of all sizes on a floor1 and presenting1 for miles along the cliffs of the sea-shore1 lines of beautifully defined fortifications4 ,the organic agent is visible in the nucleus of these round masses1 which consists of an animal or vegetable substance1 as a coral1 a shell1 a piece of flustra1 or sponge4 ,the nodules assume various shapes1 that seem to be molded according to the cavities of the matrix in which they are imbedded1 but are actually the forms of the bodies or organic substances to which they are attached4 ,the explanation given is1 that a chemical attraction has taken place between the vegetable or animal remains1 strewed abundantly through the waters1 and the silicious matter held in solution4 ,the silex in solution gradually incrusts1 or incorporates with1 the organized substance1--and thus were produced at once the flinty concretions and the wonderful petrifactions contained in them4 ,break any one of these nodular masses1 and minute drops of moisture will1 if immediately inspected1 be seen to ooze out from its pores3 thus clearly furnishing a proof of the state of solution in which it originally existed1 and the watery menstruum in which it was produced4 ,the mineralogical history and arrangement of the chalk group of rocks are therefore in many respects very interesting4 ,the chalk overlies the wealden1 which was a mere delta at the river's mouth4 ,the bed of the river suddenly disappears1 and now there rests upon it a deep sea formation4 ,how stupendous and overwhelming the forces of nature through all her operations6 ,how vast her affluence and prodigality1 which could so thoroughly alter all her exterior and interior arrangements1 and fill the seas with this new matter4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,organic ,,remains display the boundless profusion of animal life which prevailed during the cretaceous period4 ,the wealden furnishes no grounds of comparison1 as that is simply a local fresh water deposit1 and consequently can furnish no test of the general condition of life upon the surface of the globe4 ,but when we go back to the oolitic period we obtain a standard by which to measure the doings of nature in the interval1 what new creations started into being1 and what provisions were made for their subsistence4 ,the state of the temperature cannot be determined1 as the products1 with the rarest possible exceptions1 are wholly marine1 and therefore affected by atmospheric influences in a very small degree4 ,neither can much be conjectured concerning the state of the land1 as scarcely a fragment of true terrestrial life has been detected in the deposit2 and yet1 from the stillness and comparatively small dimensions of sea-basins into which the earthy ingredients were floated1 the probability is that the land was both lofty and widely extended4 ,one mammalian1 and the remains of a solitary bird1 and a meager sprinkling of vegetables1 constitute the whole1 and even dubious1 amount of contributions from this department of nature4 ,to ,neptune1 therefore1 the palontologist turns his undivided attention2 and1 comparing one period with another1 he finds the following results3 ,the cretaceous deposits all lie ,,within ,,the ,,area of the oolites4 ,they are conformable generally in position1 and display1 in proportion to their extent1 a like superabundance of calcareous earth4 ,hence a return to polyp and shelly types of life1 which we find so characteristic and diversified in both epochs4 ,thus of the first order1 ,amorphozoa1 the oolitic age produced only one genus2 in the cretaceous we find thirteen genera1 in the list ,spongia1 which is common to both4 ,of ,zoophytes1 there are twenty-three genera in the former1 and seventeen in the latter--of which nine are common to both periods4 ,the ,echinodermata number eighteen in the oolite1 and twenty-five in the chalk--five only common4 ,the genus ,foraminifera is entirely new in the latter formation1 and consists of twelve ascertained genera1 and nearly double the number of species4 ,of ,annelida there are four genera in the oolite1 and six in the chalk1 in which the new order of ,cirrhipeda occurs likewise4 ,the ,astacus is the only crustacean in the oolitic group3 this and three new genera are found in the chalk4 ,the ,conchifera are very numerous in both deposits2 forty-six in the older1 and thirty-eight genera in the newer1 of which eight are peculiar to the chalk4 ,monymaria are nearly in the same relative proportions4 ,rudistes occurs1 as a new order1 for the first time in the chalk1 while again the ,brachiopods1 ,gasteropods1 and ,cephalopods1 are about equally abundant in both formations1 with additions in the chalk to the generic models4 ,and here too the new order ,pteropoda1 of a single genus and species1 is introduced to our contemplation4 ,ammonites and ,belemnites do not pass this age4 ,illustration3 #a4 ,pecten quinque-costatus4 #b4 ,plagiostoma ,spinosum4 #c4 ,hamites intermedius4 #d4 ,spatangus cor-anguinum4 #e4 ,galerites albogalerus4 #f4 ,scaphites ,striatus4 #g4 ,belemnites mucronatus4 ,the fishes of the two periods are equally striking in their contrasts2 the two orders of ,ganoids and ,placoids are common to both1 while the ,ctenoids and ,cycloids appear for the first time in the history of our planet1 and which were afterward to contribute so largely to the sustenance and comforts of man4 ,the ,reptilians show a declension in the latter period in numbers1 with the introduction1 however1 of four new genera--one of which 7the ,iguanodon ,mantelli71 is also found in the wealden4 ,the ,cimoliornis ,diomedeus1 described by ,professor ,owen1 is the only specimen of the order ,aves or bird-tribe that as yet appears over this waste of waters4 ,the term cimoliornis means simply the chalk-bird1 and is allied1 in some of its osseous processes1 to the albatross1 but also differs in too many points to be regarded as the ancestor of that courageous storm-braving animal4 ,the claims of this fossil1 indeed1 to its true place in the system1 have not yet been fully established4 8,of the few actually fossilized remains of birds10 says ,professor ,owen1 8that have been discovered in ,england1 the most complete and characteristic are those from the ,london clay4 ,some fragmentary ,ornitholites have been discovered in the older pliocene crag1 and in the newer pliocene fresh water deposits and bone caves4 ,extremely scanty have hitherto been the recognizable remains of birds from the chalk formations4 ,the fossil from the wealden1 which ,i formerly believed1 with ,cuvier and ,dr4 ,mantell1 to belong to a wading bird1 ,i have since adduced reasons for referring to the extinct genus of flying reptiles called ,pterodactyle40 ,the fossil bones of the ,cimoliornis were obtained by the ,earl of ,enniskillen from the chalk beds near ,maidstone1 and resemble the humerus of the albatross in form1 proportions and size2 there are no distinct traces of the attachments of the quill-feathers in any of the fragments2 but in other points there are analogies to the osseous structure of birds2 and there are bones so gigantic as will assign them a place1 if the proofs are completed1 among the enormous foot-print class of the permian age1 and go almost to realize the fabulous 8roc0 of the ,arabian romance4 ,our attention in this group of deposits1 however1 is riveted more by the little than the great--by the microscopic than the gigantic forms of life4 ,it is astounding1 indeed1 to contemplate the myriads of creatures which swarmed in the seas during this period4 ,a fragment of chalk1 the size of a garden pea1 contains thousands of perfect shells2 these shells inclose still1 in many instances1 the pulpy animal matter2 and consist of a series of distinct well-defined chambers4 ,in a cubic inch of the rock it is calculated that there are upward of a million of infusorial animalcules4 ,yet their orders are determined1 their genera fixed1 their very species are described1 so perfect is the structure1 and so thoroughly preserved all the parts of their minute shelly coverlets4 ,the microscope has restored1 under the action of certain dilute acids1 the contour and shape of entire hosts of these creatures4 ,some specimens1 so positively can it speak of them1 appear to consist of tubes placed edgewise1--one projecting sometimes beyond another4 ,others are seen to possess a series of tubular organs placed parallel1 and disposed in long lines of fragile reticulated riband4 ,some are oblong figures4 ,others are complicated1 exhibiting numerous projecting processes1 and of every variety of shape4 ,some resemble the shell of the nautilus2 others are still detected with the skin adhering to the skeleton2 while in the stomachs and digestive sacs of others the more minute infusoria1 which the diminutive monster had swallowed1 are made palpable to the sight4 ,all this may be called trifling1 a misapplication of talent1 a waste of ingenuity4 ,what terms too grand to describe the lofty speculations of the astronomer1 who points his telescope to some dark point in the blue sky1 and descries in its infinite depths a cluster of closely aggregated shining particles1 minute as the motes in the sunbeam1 and hails it as the discovery of a new system of worlds4 ,he cannot count them1 for they are innumerable4 ,he cannot measure them1 for they have no dimensions4 ,he cannot tell their relations1 nor describe their orbits of motion1 for a sparkling heap of star-dust is all that flits before the reflector4 ,but the boundaries of knowledge are enlarged1 and though man nor any of the arts may ever be benefited thereby1 the fortunate discoverer will have his name inscribed in that distant region of the universe1 and transmitted from generation to generation with increasing luster4 ,the discoveries of the geologist may be inferior in grandeur1 but are they practically less illustrative in their bearings on existing arrangements8 ,he sees the past in the present1 the near and the distant in time brought together4 ,a charm is thereby thrown over studies and speculations which would otherwise be useless4 ,thus1 in the mineral structures resulting from the agencies of these invisible organic bodies1 the mind is struck with the resemblance to similar processes that may be now going forward in the ocean3 it sees in the discoloration of the waves1 as the voyager steers his vessel over the main1 a light by which to decipher the story of an age2 and1 while no voice issues from the countless myriads of animals which thicken the waters1 rocks are elaborating and depositions made that will yet be raised into islands or continents4 8,on the coast of ,chili1 a few leagues north of ,conception1 the ,beagle10 says ,dr4 ,darwin1 8one day passed through great bands of muddy water1 which1 when taken up in a glass1 was found to be slightly stained as if by red dust1 and after leaving it for some time quiet1 a cloud collected at the bottom4 ,with a lens of one-fourth of an inch focal distance1 small hyaline points could be seen1 darting about with great rapidity1 and frequently exploding4 ,examined with a much higher power1 their shape was found to be oval1 and contracted by a ring round the middle1 from which line curved little set proceeded on all sides2 and these were the organs of motion4 ,the animals move with the narrow apex forward1 by the aid of their vibratory cilia1 and generally by rapid starts4 ,their numbers were infinite1 and in one day we passed through two spaces of water thus stained1 one of which alone must have extended over several square miles4 ,the color of the water1 as seen at some distance1 was like that of a river which has flowed through a red clay district2 but under the shade of the vessel's side1 it was quite as dark as chocolate40 ,these are the foundation-builders of future islands1 of the very color and size1 it may be1 as those which piled up these masses of the brick-red chalk4 ,in an ounce of sea-sand1 from three to four millions of these minute bodies have been enumerated4 ,twenty-two thousand can be placed side by side on a linear inch of surface4 ,one single individual1 in the course of a month in summer1 will produce as many as #hjj1jjj1jjj4 ,in a globule of water1 a cubic inch contains more inhabitants than are now existing of the human family on the face of the globe4 ,the skeletons of the animalcula are transported through the air in the form of a fine impalpable dust1 covering the decks of vessels1 and darkening the atmosphere many hundred miles distant at sea4 ,the eye can trace nothing of structure--not even of granular form--and while clothes1 rigging1 and every crevice is filled and discolored with the organic nebul1 it is not until the highest microscopic powers are applied1 that it becomes resolvable and demonstrated to be a system of living creatures1 moving through space1 and fulfilling their destiny6 ,the views of nature thus opened up are boundless and infinite1 in either terms of the scale1 ascending or descending4 ,the immensity of things on the one side1 and their minuteness on the other1 carry them equally beyond the reach of direct observation1 and the intervention of means must in both cases be provided1 ere they can become the subjects of human perception and examination4 ,but what is it to me1 some will reason1 if there lie within the depths of space myriads of rolling worlds1 when ,i see them not1 and whose revolutions can in no way affect my condition on earth8 ,these rocks around are but obstacles in my way1 or stones for which ,i have no regard1 as ,i can apply them to no useful purpose4 ,i know that every blade of grass1 every leaf in the forest1 every drop of water1 every grain of sand1 teem with living creatures4 ,and1 in the air ,i breathe1 systems more1 beyond the ken of human view 8both when we wake and when we sleep10 revel in the irresponsible enjoyment of sentient existence4 ,science1 viewed in this light1 and calculated upon the rule of mere statistical enumeration1 may be reckoned as utterly valueless1 and knowledge as but a term for ,,materialism4 ,but neither astronomy nor geology will permit our speculations thus to terminate4 ,a principle of causation is involved in both1 and to trace this through a chain of sequences and effects1 whether in the great or little1 in the remote or near1 is the one grand aim of philosophy4 ,if ,i can perceive no bounds to the vast expanse in which natural causes operate1 and can fix no border or termination of the universe2 and if ,i am equally at a loss to discern things in their elements1 and to discover the limits which terminate the subdivisions of organic matter1 my inquiries will not here cease4 ,the mind will not be satisfied so to close and to shut up the thesis propounded4 ,i am compelled to advance onward1 even as the objects recede from the view1 or expand in magnitude beyond the grasp of comprehension4 ,the soul is filled with the idea of immensity1 as it familiarizes itself to the thought of the highest mountains of the earth being but specks on its surface--the terraqueous globe as an atom compared with the sun--the sun itself dwindling to a star from some point in the distant fields of space--and even all the systems that sparkle in the clearest sky only as faint streaks of light1 or not discernible even for millions of years after their creation1 in the systems that replenish and shine in the still remoter void4 ,speculations1 lofty as these1 do leave something behind--something nobler than arithmetical calculation--and knowledge becomes ,,spiritualized by them4 ,the same result follows1 when we descend in the scale of nature toward the other limit1 when we perceive a like gradation from minute bodies to others incomprehensibly more minute1 and are led as far below sensible measures of perception1 as we were before carried beyond them1 until vision is lost in utter vacuity and obliteration of all organic form4 ,but the more attenuated and fragile the structure1 the more the manifestation of ,omnipotence and superintending care4 ,if from microscopical observation we discover animals1 thousands of which scarce form an atom perceptible to unassisted sense--each of which are endowed with a system of vessels1 and fluids circulating in those vessels--if we can trace the propagation1 nourishment1 and growth of these animals--observe their motions1 capacities of action1 limits and conditions of existence--all this through countless millions and multiplications of tribes and generations--and1 finally1 after their term of being ended1 now find them entombed in rocks1 and elaborated into useful minerals2--knowledge thus pursued becomes again the handmaid of ,,religion1 and terminates in the conviction1 that we live in a universe over which the eye of ,omniscience and love has been ever wakeful and predominant4 ,the telescope leads to one verge of infinity1 the microscope brings us to another2 and in the discoveries of both there is the firmest assurance1 that as nothing is too distant and vast for the ,creator's control1 so nothing is too minute for ,his wise and fatherly care4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,tertiary ,,system4 ,the ,tertiary ,system forms the last great subdivision of the rocky strata of the earth--the last in the creative1 as well as geographical1 distribution of organic and inorganic matter--antecedent to the human epoch4 ,all the ,european and partly ,asiatic chains of mountains were again farther elevated toward the close of the preceding period4 ,europe itself assumed a more distinctive shape and contour1 a bolder coast-line1 higher plateaux1 deeper and more extensive lakes4 ,great ,britain was rounded into form1 settled upon new foundations1 and already stood out1 in her western and northern belt of granitic and primary rocks1 the empress of the ocean4 ,in thus recalling the features of the old world1 and marking the configuration of a newer state of things1 geology furnishes indubitable evidence upon which to establish these and other more general conclusions4 ,the physical geography of the globe is inseparably connected with the series of changes we have been contemplating4 ,the elevation1 small and isolated as it appears1 of the formation termed the wealden1 supplies a key by which to measure the rivers and deltas of our own island4 ,the chalk1 forming at the time the bed of the ocean1 remained for a period in undisturbed repose1 as evidenced by the hollows and erosive action seen on its surface4 ,then a series of convulsive movements1 over a vast area1 are indicated by the disrupted and altered position of the strata1 when the bottom of the sea was lifted up1 and its whole marine fauna completely changed4 ,the secondary era passed away3 the new tertiary arrangements1 animate and inanimate1 from henceforth commence4 ,thus rolls on the mighty course of time4 ,a continent is the gift of one age3 half a globe is shattered and wasted in the next4 ,all living things become extinct and entombed in this quarter3 in that1 there are new and more abundant creations4 ,the face of nature is again redolent with beauty3 life1 profusion1 and enjoyment are everywhere abounding4 8,look down on earth4 ,what seest thou8 ,wondrous things1 ,terrestrial wonders that eclipse the skies4 ,nor can the eternal rocks ,his will withstand-- ,what leveled mountains1 and what lifted vales6 ,high through mid air1 here streams are taught to flow-- ,whole rivers there1 laid by in basins1 sleep-- ,here plains turn oceans2 there vast oceans join1 ,through kingdoms1 channel'd deep from shore to shore40 ,the geological district upon which we now enter1 embraces ,london as nearly the center of its range1 from which in every direction1 along every line of railway1 sections of the tertiary deposits are laid open3 cabinets of conchology are to be met with in every pit for forty miles around2 and what facilities to visit and examine them all with the speed of the wind4 ,not a spot but may be reached at a wish1 sections more than can be numbered are in every locality1 and in half the time one makes the ascent of ,schehalion1 he has taken the circuit of several counties4 ,london6 what can it be likened or compared to8 ,nothing is so unlike as a simile1 and we need not try to describe this emporium of the world by a comparison4 ,it is not ,rome nor ,thebes1 nor ,nineveh1 nor ,babylon1 but more than them all in the stirring activities of mere animal existence--more boundless in wealth--more dominant in conquests--more all-embracing in commerce2 as deep in its sins1 arrogant in its pride1 haughty in its supremacy1 as ,queen ,city of the nations4 ,about twelve hundred souls are every week added to that dense mass of human beings4 ,as many1 nearly1 are every week blotted from the sum of mortal existence4 ,no metropolis on this mundane scene ever stood in a similar relation to all other nations and cities of the world1 whose every wish1 for weal or woe1 so affected the destinies of all the families of men4 ,a part of every one of them is therein concentrated4 ,not a tribe but has its representative4 ,not a specimen or production of human skill but is borne thither4 ,genius1 wit1 industry1 ingenuity1 are in all their most beautiful creative efforts indelibly embalmed2 and were that mighty pile to be ingulfed in the bosom of the waters1 out of which its foundations were recently lifted up1 the genus homo would1 in all its entireness1 be conserved together--the type and wonder of our own geological epoch4 ,this city1 too1 contains everything else that the world contains4 ,a specimen of every living thing is here2 and things which cannot live1 but pine and die away from their native haunts1 have been carefully preserved and skillfully arranged for the inspection of the curious4 ,the kaleidoscope1 in all its phantasmagoria of change and infinite diversity of hues1 can display nothing half so various as the realities of nature2 and types of the entire modern era1 from the extinct ,dodo to the recently-discovered ,moas of ,wanganui1 are before you in all their diversified forms1 from the misshapen and fantastic to the loveliest of earthly creations4 ,when ,adam gave names to the creatures of the field1 they are simply said to have been 8brought unto him to see what he would call them20 every tree pleasant to the sight grew out of the ground2 and ,eve1 ,milton beautifully represents 8went forth among her fruits and flowers1 ,to visit how they prosper'd1 bud and bloom1 ,her nursery2 they at her coming sprung40 ,here are all things once more assembled1 and as the tree of knowledge no longer bars from the tree of life1 we can innocently search into all the mysteries1 and see all the qualities and shapes1 of every earthly object4 ,nor is ,london less privileged and distinguished by its geological treasures and multifarious condition of things beneath4 ,the capital stands on the tertiary ,eocene strata1 or last of the rocky series of the island4 ,the pre-,adamic arrangements all here cease1 the boundaries betwixt the old and the new world are here drawn4 ,the age of ,,humanity dawns4 ,and1 interred in the deposits immediately below1 lie the last of a series of monsters which preceded man's introduction upon the stage1 and between whom and all his race an unequal war of merciless extermination must have prevailed4 ,the reasoning animal1 indeed1 at once the most helpless and most potent of nature's offspring1 could but ill have existed under a constitution of the elements which fostered the ,palotheriums and ,chropotami of the tertiary age4 ,neither the romance of geology nor the era of prodigies1 therefore1 are yet over4 ,the curtain once more requires to be lifted from the dark regions of the past1 ere we approach the arrangements1 forms1 and distribution of animal and vegetable life1 of the epoch in which our own lot has been cast4 ,i4 ,,the ,,tertiary ,,group consists of a series of well-marked and closely connected beds of clays1 sands1 gravel1 brecciated conglomerate1 marls1 and limestones2 some of which are of marine1 and some of fresh water origin--points only to be determined by their respective fossil remains4 ,some lithological distinctions may also be established2 the marine deposits are less minutely laminated than those of the fresh water2 and also1 in general1 the beds are thicker1 and their sediments more confused in their arrangement4 8,limestones1 and fine light-colored clays10 says ,mr4 ,phillips1 8constitute the principal mass of the fresh water sediments2 while sands1 and blue and variously-colored clays1 more particularly mark the marine depositions4 ,the latter appear like the products of littoral agitation1 as if the wearing of cliffs of older strata had furnished the materials of these newer rocks2 while the former resemble the accumulations from the wasting surface of chalky and argillaceous countries40 ,these deposits lie in hollows and depressions of the chalk formation1 and constitute what is termed the ,london basin4 ,a similar series of materials occur in ,hampshire1 separated from the former by the upraised edges of the subjacent strata1 which1 cropping out in like manner on the south1 inclose them also in a basin-shaped area4 ,the same arrangement prevails across the channel1 where a suite of rocks referable to the same age lie within the chalks1 and constitute the well-known ,paris basin1 whose remarkable remains were first brought to light from their tomb of ages in ,montmartre by ,m4 ,brongniart and ,cuvier1 upward of thirty years ago4 ,the ,auvergne basins1 in central ,france1 are equally well characterized4 ,and1 stretching onward through southern ,europe1 the tertiary deposits occupy positions nearly similar2 and all composed1 with slight local variations1 of kindred fossils and sediments4 ,geology has been compared to history4 ,we also see how it embraces the whole range of physical geography1 restoring the land-marks of the past1 and presenting pictures of the earth's surface which the mere traveler can no longer detect4 ,the rolling ,thames1 with town1 spire1 and villa nestling in every slope1 and tunnel1 bridges1 and 8,crowded ports1 ,where rising masts an endless prospect yield10-- we seek in vain for on the geological map of the period4 ,there were spice islands1 with aromatic gales1 palm trees1 dates1 turtles lazily pacing the sands1 and crocodiles heavily climbing the banks1 or plunging and gamboling in the deeper pools4 ,a ,polynesia1 with a tropical climate and corresponding luxuriance of vegetable and animal life1 occupied the intermediate regions of ,europe and ,western ,asia4 ,on the south and west a vast continent loomed over the main1 whence1 in part at least1 the detrital matter of the several basins alluded to was derived2 and there1 too1 in all probability1 the source of the spasmodic action which successively elevated and depressed the bed of the sea on which were accumulating the tertiary deposits1 and whose throes finally terminated in its own submergence1 and upheaval of the south-east coast of ,britain1 and the whole of central ,europe4 ,gulliver returned with a report of strange people1 flying islands1 and fertile descriptions of impossible monstrosities4 ,geology deals in a simple shifting of the scenes1 new arrangements in the drama of creation1 and is entitled to credit in its boldest assumptions1 furnishing proof1 as it abundantly does1 from the existing wreck of those vanished realities to which it now assigns local habitation and name4 ,london occupies the bottom of an ancient sea1 whose spoils1 six or seven hundred feet in thickness1 are there to attest the fact2 and for miles around1 every excavation into the marine mass multiplies the evidence1 and repeats the story of its existence4 ,the plastic and ,london clays constitute the lower beds of the series immediately above the chalk1 and are nearly co-extensive in their range4 ,from ,reading on the west1 these sediments stretch eastward through the valley of the ,thames along the right bank to ,margate2 on the left1 they cover the entire district to ,ipswich2 and constitute a very large part of the soil of the adjacent counties from ,norfolk to ,hampshire1 prevailing more especially through the central and eastern districts4 ,mr4 ,prestwick has recently shown1 that the lower ,english tertiaries form several distinct subdivisions1 each marked by different conditions1 and these conditions indicating ancient hydrographical and palontological changes of importance4 ,a conglomerate bed of round flint pebbles1 mixed with yellow1 green1 or ferruginous sands1 extends almost uninterruptedly from the ,isle of ,wight to ,woodbridge1 in ,suffolk2 this bed underlies the ,london clay1 intercalated betwixt it and the plastic clay1 and forms a well-marked geological horizon1 dividing this formation from the older ,eocene deposits4 ,it contains thirty known1 and eight or ten still undescribed species of testacea1 twenty of which are not found in the lower deposits1 while all are nearly identical with those of the superior and ,london clay beds4 ,the plastic formation thus embraces the ,london clay1 as the chalk does both1 which again in its turn is embraced by the oolites2 whence the older and inferior systems all widen1 and extend successively as the bed of the sea was elevated2 and hence the basins were gradually narrowed and contracted as they approached the last and closing ante-human epoch4 ,a kind of convergency in all this can be distinctly traced in the superficies of the earth to the state which it has now assumed4 ,a similar approximation in its living inhabitants1 as will immediately appear1 can as clearly be pointed out to its present occupants4 ,intelligent will and design are equally manifest in the arrangements2 for1 however great the amount of change1 the restraining hand of foresight is visibly present in them all1 and1 in every successive advance to the present order of things1 a purpose is discernible in making the more effectual provision for the permanent stability of the human system4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,organic ,,remains of the tertiary deposits1 if they possess not so much of antiquity as those which have already passed in review1 are all the more interesting and worthy of attention1 as they admit of a closer comparison with the established order of things1 and the laws now regulating the distribution of animal and vegetable life4 ,the locality most fertile in the organic remains of this period is the small island of ,sheppey1 situated near the mouth of the ,thames1 which is not more welcomely descried by the home-bound mariner as a ,pharos of light and safety from the howling waste of waters1 than it has proved to the palontologist a repository and beacon-light for determining the most recondite mysteries connected with almost every living thing1 in sea or land1 during the ,eocene age4 ,it consists entirely of the ,london clay deposit1 of an average thickness of five hundred feet1 and displaying in the cliffs vertical faces two hundred feet high4 ,the fossils in both localities are almost identical2 in the isle of ,sheppey they are more abundant1 as well as accessible2 and1 in consequence1 they have been more minutely and generally described4 #a4 ,the shells are very abundant4 ,a few genera have survived the changes and disturbances succeeding the upheaval of the chalk1 and a single species of ,gasteropodes 7,acton elongatus71 is common to both formations4 ,the ,belemnites and ,ammonites1 swarming in the seas of the secondary period1 are now entirely withdrawn4 ,the ,nautilus is but sparingly represented4 ,the new genus ,cerithium is introduced1 a long1 tapering1 spiral-formed shell1 and apparently of strong predaceous habits4 ,lobsters resembling existing species are very abundant4 ,the ,nummulites1 of which entire rocks were formed during the secondary age1 still survive4 ,and1 as an index to the state of temperature1 it requires to be mentioned1 that many species1 now found only in tropical seas1 are mixed with the testaceous fossils of these localities4 #b4 ,the fishes are equally peculiar and characteristic of the era upon which we enter4 ,nothing can more strikingly show the violence and universality of the change that was cotemporaneous with the tertiary arrangements1 than the total disappearance of the old tribes of fishes1 and their replacement by entirely new specific1 and a large infusion likewise of new generic1 types4 ,the change is no less remarkable when viewed in its relation to existing races1 every one of which1 with the solitary exception of the salmon family1 have here their representatives4 ,perch1 cod1 herring1 mackerel1 eels1 had all become occupants of the seas of this period1 and their remains deposited in the clays of ,sheppey are in the greatest profusion4 8,the number of fossil fish from the ,london clay10 says ,agassiz1 8amounts to ninety-two in the one single locality of ,sheppey1 without counting ten species to which ,i have not yet assigned names1 not having hitherto been able to characterize them in a satisfactory manner40 ,the difficulty arises from two causes--the imperfect and fragmentary state of the fossils themselves1 and the new principle adopted by him for their classification4 ,most of the fishes belonging to the tertiary era are of the ,cycloid and ,ctenoid orders1 with thin fragile scales1 which1 unlike the ,ganoids whose cuirassed bodies were protected by a thick covering of plates1 have been unable to preserve the integrity of their form and outline4 ,the greater number of these interesting remains1 accordingly1 have rotted in the matrix1 their bones separating1 and the soft parts all replaced by clay4 ,the scales are disaggregated 7leur scailles dsagrges71 and the cranium alone of the osseous structure remaining entire1 owing to the soldering of the pieces composing it1 the ingenious naturalist has adopted this single organ as the basis of the new system4 8,the characteristic features of the skulls of the mammalia and reptilia are known2 the variations which such a bone1 such a crest1 such a groove may undergo in such and such a family are understood2 and already1 at the first glance1 it is possible to ascertain whether the animal under consideration is carnivorous1 ruminant1 or solipedal4 ,but nothing is more variable than the forms of the cranium and of the heads of fish4 ,the multitude of bones and of spines which serve for the attachment of the muscles1 the infinite variety of forms in the families themselves1 impart such a diversity to the crania of the fish1 that the ichthyologist frequently despairs of being able to reduce them to their respective types1 and in fact a comparative craniology of fish does not exist4 ,there is no one1 that ,i know1 who can tell at first sight1 whether such and such a cranium belongs to a percoid1 to a sparoid1 or to a chetodontal type40#h ,isolated crania and detached vertebr are nearly all that remain of the ,sheppey fossils1 and the conclusions established from them by ,m4 ,agassiz1 are as follows1 throwing new and important light upon the two last great and approximating geological epochs4 ,the ,english coasts1 at present1 are inhabited by one hundred and sixty-three species of fish1 of which there are eighty-one genera1 divided among six predominant families1 while two or three are only occasionally domiciled4 ,sixty species belong to the order of ,ctenoids1 fifty to that of the ,cycloids1 and eleven to the ,ganoids4 ,the fossil distribution establishes the following results3 of ,ctenoids twelve species1 eleven genera1 and three families1 of which the perch tribe is the most numerous2 three genera of the ,teuthi1 a family essentially meridional1 and occurring only in southern seas1 a fact which shows a higher climatic condition of temperature than now exists in this latitude2 thirty-two species of the ,cycloid order1 twenty-six genera1 and eleven families--of these the cod and mackerel tribes are the most numerous4 ,while no trace of the family ,salmonid has been detected in the tertiary deposit1 a family exclusively tropical1 the ,characid1 is found to have had congeners of very considerable size in the more ancient epoch4 ,the haddock1 cod1 and ling races are very abundant--a fact1 says ,agassiz1 which proves that1 notwithstanding the more meridional physiognomy of the ,sheppey deposit as a whole1 there is nevertheless already an approximation in the fish of this interesting locality toward the actual character of the ichthyological fauna of ,england4 ,the living representatives of most of these fossils are1 if anywhere1 to be looked for in southern and tropical latitudes2 for1 notwithstanding of an approximation1 there is not much of real identity of type between the existing and extinct races of the ,british seas4 ,in fact1 there are but four genera1 ,megalops1 ,cybium1 ,tetrapterus1 and ,myripristis1 whose families are still known in the current epoch2 and but very few species1 from the rich prolific beds of ,sheppey1 have been as yet rendered into living forms4--,the fishes most nearly related to the present inhabitants of warmer climes are those which are obtained from the fossil tertiary deposits of ,monte ,bolca in northern ,italy1 and in the little explored region of ,mount ,lebanon4 ,much remains to be done1 therefore1 before wider generalizations can be fully established4 ,the knowledge already acquired in this department of ichthyology confirms every previous inference relating to periodic physical changes of the globe1 and their convergency to the order and arrangements of nature which now prevail over the earth4 #c4 ,the reptiles and semi-natants of the tertiary period lead to the same general conclusions4 ,the intercourse now so closely established betwixt this country and ,borneo throws new light1 every day more and more1 upon the ancient condition of our island4 ,the resemblance1 both in the fauna and flora of these remote places1 is striking throughout2 when1 for space on the one hand we substitute time on the other1 we have nearly a transcript of their respective conditions4 ,the northern swarmed with the crocodiles of the southern hemisphere3 the boa constrictor has his representatives in the serpents of the ,london clay2 and turtles1 both of marine and fresh water characters1 are equally abundant4 ,the ,pythonic monster is also there1 represented by reptilians which now only inhabit tropical countries1 and prey on quadrupeds and birds1 both of which became abundant during the tertiary age4 #d4 ,the mammalia consisted of large pachyderms or thick-skinned animals1 now represented by the rhinoceros1 tapir1 and elephant4 ,wolves1 foxes1 and raccoons1 mice1 rats1 rabbits1 hogs1 even monkeys1 began also to flit over the stage of stirring life4 ,the existence of the order ,quadrumana and the ape genus ,macacus1 during the earlier tertiary period1 was determined by the discovery of the fragment of a lower jaw1 including the socket of the last molar tooth1 in a stratum of blue clay in ,suffolk1 and described in the 8,magazine of ,natural ,history10 for #ahci1 by ,professor ,owen4 ,other remains have been detected of the same animal in ,france1 the ,east ,indies1 and ,south ,america1 establishing beyond a doubt the co-existence of four different genera of apes and monkeys with the extinct mammalians of the ,english tertiary deposits4--,that these creatures were anterior to ,,man1 in point of creation1 is in accordance with all geological evidence regarding the animal kingdom4 ,the progressive development theory avails itself of the fact1 but can establish less upon it than if it took the example of the bat--which1 in anatomical structure1 resembles the human family scarcely less than the monkey6 ,but geographically considered1 it furnishes a striking instance of the wonderful revolution which this island has undergone since the comparatively recent epoch of the tertiary formation4 ,images and pictures of life are thus called up in the vista of the past1 which at once transport the mind into the bosom of the wilderness or remote ,afric forest2 and long ere man had betaken himself to cities1 or a stone of all that huge capital had been dug out of the earth1 or a sail of all its vast commercial greatness had been wafted over the waters1 the very spot on which he has developed the greatest resources of his power1 enterprise1 and genius1 was tenanted by those tribes which approach him nearest in form1 which philosophers have mistaken for his type1 but in which the semblance of external figure is lamentably contrasted by the absence of all that moral framework1 mind1 and spirit1 which pre-eminently distinguish and glorify the human race6 ,a remarkable peculiarity in the mammalian remains of the tertiary period is the total absence of the ruminating animals1 which do not appear until the modern epoch1 when we recognize them at once as the companions and useful contributors to the comforts of man4 ,these still retain 8the names0 which ,adam bestowed upon them4 ,the more ancient creations rejoice in the mythical nomenclature of science1 of which between fifty and sixty species have been determined4 ,the greater proportion are from the ,paris basin2 but the district under review contains1 in its lower and middle divisions1 the remains of some of the more remarkable of the group--as the ,palotherium1 ,anoplotherium1 ,lophiodon1 ,chropotamus1 ,didelphis1 ,balenodon1 and the huge ,mastodon4--,these animals are specifically different from everything now in existence2 even ,macacus ,eocenus will find no lineal descendant in ,ceylon1 ,madagascar1 or the ,cape2 and no ,celtic pedigree will meet the case4 ,the race have left our island1 and departed from the earth2 and to restore them in imagination1 we must seek their nearest analogies in the impenetrable fastnesses and prairies of unreclaimed nature4 #e4 ,,birds are distinctly traceable in this formation4 ,the ,eocene clays of the ,isle of ,sheppey have produced materials sufficiently indicative of the class1 in which the true affinities of the aerial inhabitants are detected1 and a new genus completely established4 ,the specimens found bear a resemblance to the osteology of the smaller kinds of vultures1 and one has been designated ,lithornis ,vulturinus4 ,the #8,icones fossilium sectiles' of ,knig contains a description of some other ornitholites found in the same locality1 considered by the author as belonging to a natatorial or long-toed bird1 and denominated ,bucklandium ,diluvii4 ,the ,paris basin is more fruitful in these fossils than the ,london2 from these several species have been determined--more or less allied to the pelican1 the sea-lark1 curlew1 woodcock1 buzzard1 owl1 and quail2 thus clearly establishing the link in the chain of being1 but still at a wide interval from the gay choristers and domesticated tribes which minister so much to the solace and happiness of man4 ,the geologist traces the connection1 and sees in the expanse of ages1 as race after race emerge upon the scene1 a gradual preparation and tendency of all things to a final result2 sea1 earth1 and air successively possessed by creatures approximating as they advance to those of the human epoch2 and man proudly or presumptuously concludes1 that all has been 8worked solely for his good40 ,but as the poet has sung--may we not ask1 and ask concerning the humblest life which man often despises and as often terribly destroys1 but which is never overlooked by ,him who made man and all things1 and whose tender care is over all his works8-- 8,is it for thee1 the lark ascends and sings8 ,joy tunes his voice1 joy elevates his wings4 ,is it for thee1 the linnet pours his throat8 ,loves of his own1 and raptures swell the note4 ,is thine alone1 the seed that strews the plain8 ,the birds of ,heaven shall vindicate their grain40 #f4 ,and in the ,flora which then decked the plains1 fringed the marshes1 or clothed the heights1 8the birds of heaven0 had ample provision in seed1 fruit1 and herbage for all their wants4 ,remarkable indeed the adaptation of the animal tribes referred to in the previous section to the lacustrine condition of the surface which still so generally prevailed4 ,the plants of the period are such as are now exclusively confined to warm or tropical latitudes4 ,the palms and cocoa-nut bearing trees are abundant and of different kinds4 ,one family belongs to the ,nipadites1 which are found in ,japan and the ,spice ,islands1 generally in the estuaries of rivers1 or along the tracts of damp marshy grounds4 ,the lovely ,acacia was here naturalized4 ,pepper1 dates1 and cucumbers added to the variety of the sylvan banquet1 which tall branching pines shaded from the scorching heat4 ,if we are no longer in possession of the luxurious fruits and condiment-bearing plants of this early age1 the change has led to other and better productions4 ,for deep lakes we have these verdant meadows and corn plains2 the stagnant marshes are drained of their mephitic vapors2 the theroid monsters are supplanted by the laboring ox and the industrial horse2 and with all the arts flourishing1 and carried to the highest pitch along her borders1 the proudest achievements of science wafted on her bosom--the 8fruitful ,thame0 may challenge the nations of the earth for every product which climate yields or genial suns ripen4 ,such was the dawn or introduction to the present order of things4 ,in the language of geology it is called the ,,eocene ,,age of the world1 because it approaches in its organic productions to those which are now existing1 and containing a very few recent species1 not more than three or four per cent4 ,nature did not all at once leap from one epoch to another4 ,in the tertiary deposits there is evidence of successive creations1 rests and pauses1 as it were1 before the final and crowning consummation of her works4 ,more and more analogies begin to manifest themselves in the ascending series of the group4 ,the ,miocene1 or middle period1 develops a yet larger proportion1 though not a majority1 of the present inhabitants of the sea4 ,the ,pleiocene arrangements follow2 and in the shells and terrestrial products of this group the modern characters and types are still more clearly discernible4 ,when we reach the highest members1 the difficulties of separation from the modern deposits begin to multiply2 the mineral qualities and mere earthy beds are not distinguishable2 while1 on the other hand1 in all the animal forms and huge colossal proportions of ,mastodons and ,theriums1 there are the unequivocal markings of an extinct anterior age4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,mammoth ,,period4 ,the tertiary deposits are referable to three great divisions1 containing subdivisions1 some of marine1 some of fresh water origin1 and severally characterized by their fossil remains4 ,the terms ,eocene1 ,miocene1 and ,pleiocene1 are applied to them in their respective order of superposition1 as the lower1 middle1 and upper groups4 ,the ,london basin belongs to the first of these divisions4 ,when these congeries of beds were completed1 and the bottom of the sea was elevated1 a fresh water occupation of the district appears to have prevailed4 ,and during the supremacy of this reign of the ,naads it was1 that ,england was tenanted by herds of large quadrupeds1 tigers1 hyenas1 and the companions of the untamable class1 whose haunts are now in the ,indian jungle1 or the forests and prairies of ,america4 ,this has been denominated the ,mammoth ,epoch1 when the elephant race literally swarmed over northern ,europe1 from ,italy to the ,arctic regions4 ,great ,britain at this era formed part of the continent1 or rather of the great series of lakes and marshy swamps which then prevailed4 ,hence only can geologists account for the identity of fossils scattered over this area4 ,the organisms are all of a type1 all of the remarkable orders now confined to warmer climes4 ,and when we find these fossils cast up in every field from the same series of deposits--in ,switzerland1 on the banks of the ,danube1 through the plains of ,siberia1 and northern ,russia--in the basins of the ,rhine1 and the whole of lower ,germany--in the ,netherlands1 over central and northern ,france1 the entire south and east coasts of ,england--we decipher in all this1 not only the organic characters of the same period of time1 but the connecting links of one and the same superficial portion of the globe4 ,this is a very remarkable chapter in the history of our island1 whether we consider the mineral or animal arrangements that prevailed1 and their relations to continental ,europe4 ,here we contemplate the relics of herds of the larger mammals which then ranged over a quarter of the earth's surface1 all now extinct2 while1 toward the close of the epoch1 everything conspires to favor the notion1 that our insular position was then1 for the first time1 established4 ,the type of the period is the ,mammoth1 or the ,elephas ,primogenius4 ,there are only two existing species1 namely1 the ,asiatic1 which is limited to within #ca north latitude1 and the ,african1 whose range extends to the shores of the ,pacific1 as far south as the ,cape of ,good ,hope4 ,america1 through all its forests and boundless wastes1 possesses not a single individual of the modern family1 while the remains of the extinct race are to be found in every prairie1 along the banks of the ,missouri1 and abundantly in the great salt marshes1 whither they had resorted in vast herds in quest of the salt1 and been mired1 as heavy animals are frequently at the present day4 ,the intertropical plains of the new world1 and the polar regions of the old1 were equally congenial to their habits4 ,nay1 so adaptive were they in their nature and tastes--these gigantic pachyderms of the middle tertiary period--that in every intermediate country1 they have left in their huge skeletons unequivocal traces of their sojourn or migration4 ,from the ,british strata alone1 no less than three thousand and upward of fossil teeth have been dug up belonging to this colossal animal4 ,these are found chiefly in the drift along the east coast of ,england1 from ,robin ,hood's ,bay1 near ,whitby1 to ,holderness4 ,in a period of little more than thirteen years1 the fishermen of the village of ,happisburgh have dragged up more than two thousand grinders of the mammoth4 ,in the valley of the ,thames the relics have been discovered very numerously1 at ,sheppey1 ,woolwich1 the ,isle of ,dogs1 ,lewisham1--in the gravel beneath the streets of ,london1--at ,kensington1 ,kew1 ,wallingford1 ,oxford1--and all around the south-east coast from ,brighton to ,lyme-,regis1 in ,dorsetshire4 ,the central counties of ,stafford1 ,northampton1 ,warwick1 and ,york1 are everywhere strewed a few feet under ground with these remains4 ,at ,stroud1 a railway section laid open a tusk1 measuring nine feet in length2 and everywhere in the ,british ,channel the fishery of the extinct quadruped is as ardently pursued1 and often is as remunerative1 as the fishery of the finny tribes themselves now existing on our shores4 ,these animals1 once filling the plains of ,england with herds equaled only by those of the buffalo race which now darken the prairies of ,america1 have fulfilled their destiny1 and have perished from the earth4 8,the difference10 says ,professor ,owen1 8between the extinct and existing species of elephant in regard to the structure of the teeth1 has been more or less manifested by every specimen of fossil elephant's tooth that ,i have hitherto seen from the ,british strata2 and those now amount to upward of three thousand4 ,very few of them could be mistaken1 by a comparative anatomist1 for the tooth of an ,asiatic elephant1 and they are all obviously distinct from the peculiar molars of the ,african elephant40 ,cuvier ascertained like distinctions between the extinct and the existing ,indian elephants2 and concluded1 from the reconstruction of the complete framework1 that the mammoth type is no longer in being4 ,the proof that the elephant race actually inhabited this country is as satisfactory1 and as well established1 as that the species were different from any now existing4 ,little1 indeed1 can it be wondered at1 upon the first discovery of their remains1 that the accounts given by geologists and others were received with the greatest distrust4 ,their appearance1 in these high latitudes1 was attributed to the inroad of armies rather than to any indigenous connection with the soil that covers them4 ,csar1 it was remembered1 brought many elephants with him into ,gaul4 ,according to ,polinus1 one at least was transported across the channel into ,britain3 hence an easy and ready explanation of the fossils1 as ,voltaire1 in his time1 fancied the shells found on mountain tops to be the stray specimens dropped by pious pilgrims or superstitious monks on their journeyings4 ,but as their numbers increased--some from ,ireland where the soldiers of ,rome never set foot1 along with the bones of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus which could be instructed in no military tactics1 and all over the length and breadth of the land bones and entire skeletons began to be exhumed--all grounds for skepticism against their aboriginal national descent were forever swept away4 ,and ,britain1 it was admitted1 literally and truly1 had once been stocked1 among its most recently extinct families1 with these monster tenants of the wilderness4 ,an entire carcass1 it is well known1 covered with long woolly hair1 was found at the mouth of the river ,lena1 as far north as the #gdth degree of latitude1 imbedded in ice4 ,this discovery opened up more enlarged and correct views as to the history and habits of these animals4 ,subsequent years increased prodigiously the stock of fossils1 entire and perfect in hide and fleshy muscle2 and now1 so abundant are the remains of the fossil mammalia in the arctic regions1 that they have not only become an article of commercial traffic to man1 but serve as an unfailing repository of food to the present denizens of those countries1 the hordes of marauding wolves1 foxes1 and bears1 which prey amid the polar regions and sterility4 ,it has farther been ascertained that1 where the lichen and the scanty moss now only grow1 a rich arboreal vegetation once flourished in these latitudes2 birch trees1 of large dimensions1 are everywhere imbedded in the sandy cliffs2 and it is conjectured1 with the greatest probability1 that herds of elephants migrated from the warm interior1 during the summer months1 to the embouchures of the rivers and borders of the arctic sea1 covered as they were with sheltering forests1 or shrubby brushwood steppes4 8,as we advance10 says ,murchison1 8into the plains of ,siberia1 or descend into the valleys of ,tobol and the ,obe1 the bones are in greater quantities1 and in a better state of preservation2 and the farther the ,siberian rivers are followed to their mouths1 the more do the mammalian remains increase1 until at length whole skeletons1 and even carcasses1 are found4 ,the single fact of the very wide diffusion of the mammoth bones1 over enormous regions1 in itself indicates that those creatures had long been inhabitants of such countries1 living and dying there for ages2 while their final destruction may have resulted from aqueous dbacles dependent on oscillations of the land1 the elevation of mountain-chains1 and the formation of much local detritus40 ,the same causes will account for their destruction in this country--causes1 whose effects are still traceable over the whole of continental ,europe4 ,doubtless1 these causes extended across the channel1 and may have been cotemporaneous with the movements which resulted in separating us from ,france1 occasioning dbacles by the alternate upheaval and depression of the sea-bottom1 which even the largest animals would be unable to contend against4 ,in the midst of these movements1 multitudes would resort to the higher protected grounds1 in quest of food1 or retire for shelter to caves and other concealments that were elevated above the waters4 ,remains1 accordingly1 of nearly all the quadrupeds of the period1 the rhinoceros1 hippopotamus1 lion1 tiger1 hyena1 bear1 elk1 are to be found in such places1 associated with bones of the elephant family1 and mixed1 for the most part1 with the alluvia and detrital gravel of the district4 ,these animals appear not to have perished simultaneously or suddenly2 but from the condition of the celebrated ,kirkdale caves1 when first discovered1 it would rather seem that they had long haunted these places1 the caverns being generally at a considerable elevation1 with an entrance on the side of the valley4 ,the floors were entirely covered with mud1 teeth1 bones1 and stalagmitic incrustations1 several feet deep--a den of monsters that were devouring each other1 while the common enemy of destruction was approaching to seal the fate of all6 ,the 8,reliqui ,diluvian0 of ,buckland1 which first introduced the notice of these caves to the public1 assumed the ,mosaic deluge as the cause of the catastrophe3 other hypotheses have been resorted to1 as that certainly would not apply to all the circumstances of the case4 ,bones of a species of hare or rabbit1 the water-rat1 mouse1 weasel1 with fragments of the skeletons of ravens1 pigeons1 larks1 and ducks1 are also included among the relics of the fiercer tribes2 and many have supposed that these were drifted in by subaqueous currents1 or dropped through the fissures1 which are both numerous and large in the limestone in which the caverns1 for the most part1 are situated4 ,the ,mastodon1 that is1 the mammillary-toothed elephant1 was another of the extinct pachyderm class then inhabiting the island4 ,remains of this animal have been found in the ,norwich ,crag2 there are several species1 all of gigantic proportions1 some of which have been detected in ,north ,america only1 and others in ,europe4 ,the tigers of the period were larger than the largest of the ,bengal race1 as is proved by the fossil teeth and bones of the extremities that have been discovered1 both at ,kirkdale and other places4 ,and so1 generally1 of all the extinct carnivora1 in the qualities of strength and size1 superior to all existing types1 and cast in the mold of1 as they had to contend with1 the mammoths and monster theria among which their destiny was cast4 ,and again1 and again1 will the questions recur to every curious reader of these details--when1 and how1 were these huge quadrupeds exterminated1 or driven from this island1 some of them now utterly extinct1 and some of them only generically allied to existing tropical races8 ,the epoch of their rule1 according to the geological testimony1 verges on the human age1 if it does not actually run into it4 ,terror-stricken1 shall we suppose1 by the terrene and subaqueous movements which severed ,great ,britain from the continent--the rush of waters--the rending of the rocks--and the drying up of lakes1 consequent on the change--they sought a refuge above the general wreck1 where the weak were preyed upon by the strong1 and a fierce carnival1 for a season1 was maintained8 ,on the continent1 while similar alterations were taking place over large superficial areas1 and the tertiary deposits were being drifted up1 many of the animals1 and whole families1 would escape into southern and warmer countries1 and some of the species1 in consequence1 might long survive the destruction of others4 ,but here1 insulated and deprived of the means of performing their annual migrations1 the races of every kind would all more speedily perish1 preying more easily upon each other1 and weakened by alteration of habits1 and the great physical changes to which they were subjected4 ,on the ,ararat of ,yorkshire1 and other favored heights1 they found a temporary resting-place6 ,but1 it was only temporary2 for1 as the island approximated to its present condition1 it proved no longer a suitable dwelling to creatures of their mold--their course was run--and a new creation was to occupy their place4 ,in closing these sketches of the geology of ,great ,britain1 one may well marvel at the vast changes over the face of this island and of all its productions1 as read in the varied and multiform disclosures which the interior structure1 formation upon formation1 makes known to us4 #a4 ,mark the distinct character of the geological evidence of all the changes1 organic and inorganic1 to which the island and its inhabitants have been subjected4 ,the evidence rests upon direct observation4 ,the registers are graven as with a pen of iron1 and in characters which to be understood have only to be read4 ,the historical period1 beyond two decades of centuries1 is an utter blank4 ,when ,csar came into the island1 painted savages peopled the land1 ,druids immolated in thousands their human victims1 and1 the brief occupation of the invaders past1 we are again involved in the darkness of barbarous annals and exterminating wars of unknown tribes4 ,whence the migrations of its first inhabitants8 who were the ,cymri that spoke the language of ,cwm ,llewelyn1 and of ,cefn y ,bdd8 who were the ,silures1 the ,trinobantes1 the ,cantii1 and the ,atribates8 and whither and what the ever-conflicting lines betwixt the territories of ,picts1 ,celts1 and ,scots8--questions these that will ever puzzle and disturb the slumbers of the unhappy wight who deals in chronicle lore and archological history4 ,what now of the oldest civilized states of the old world who gave law1 literature1 science1 art1 language1 and blood1 to all the families of the earth1 as the tide of population rolled westward1 and the ,quadrumana and the ,bimana contended for mastery amid the dense aboriginal forests on the banks of the ,danube1 the ,rhine1 the ,rhone1 the ,seine1 the ,thames1 the mountains of ,cambria and ,caledonia8 ,rome sits in ruined majesty by the waters of the ,tiber4 ,greece knows not1 and mourns not1 the buried ashes of her mighty dead4 ,carthage has been blotted out4 ,tyre has fulfilled her destiny--8a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea40 ,the shepherd kings of the pyramids have not a name even among men2 and ,thebes1 ,luxor1 and ,carnac1 lie as fossils in the desert4 ,what of ,babylon and her ,tower on the plains of ,shinar1 that was to reach unto the heavens8 and of ,nineveh1 8a city of three days' journey0 to be compassed8 ,mounds of earth and rubbish1 over which the ,arab has pitched his rude tent1 and into which the prying antiquary1 at the risk of his life1 digs for fragments1 while the ,tigris and ,euphrates pursue their heedless course through the waste slimy borders of ,uz and ,mesopotamia4 ,thus mark how many illustrious heroes1 scholars1 lawgivers1 who once filled the world with their fame1 have1 with all their splendid or useful benefactions to their race1 passed under the thick cloud of oblivion6 ,the very names of the most noted of them is matter of dispute4 ,and of the multitudes who panted after glory in these ancient days1 not an incident in the life of millions has reached the present times4 ,but geology1 as ,,history1 is truthful in the oldest as in the most recent of its narrations4 ,how generally accurate in its family genealogies3 their relations1 kindreds1 alliances1 and individual peculiarities2 the length and strength of body1 contour of face1 size1 structure1 and capacity of head1 eye1 and stomach--all as precisely determined and described in regard to the 8habitans0 of the most ancient fossiliferous rocks1 as the living possessors of earth1 sea1 or air4 ,look into our museums1 cabinets1 monographs1 and palontological lists1 and types of organic life are there1 from which not only to number the tribes1 but to tell of their own varying states and conditions4 ,wonders there are in geology4 ,but its most seeming fables are realities4 ,the placoids and ganoids of the silurian and devonian age1 the exuberant flora of the carboniferous1 the giant birds of the triassic1 the matchless reptilian forms of the oolite1 the microscopic organisms of the chalk1 the colossal mammoths and mammalia of the tertiaries1 were all as veritable productions of the island as the most familiar grains1 grasses1 and domesticated breeds which minister to our daily wants4 ,how obscure1 uncertain1 and limited the range of human history6 ,how extensive1 and boundless1 and minute the pursuits of geology1 which touches on the history of all creatures that ever lived through all their species1 genera1 orders1 and classes1 and even remounts to the primeval condition of the planet itself during all the periods1 phases1 and revolutions of its existence6 ,but of man there is no trace4 ,no voice from the past1 issuing out of the solid framework of the globe1 intimates the existence of the human family anterior to the last of those great physical changes which we have been contemplating1 and over the wreck of whose organic tribes the epoch of the tertiary sections of its crust closes4 #b4 ,the teachings of this science in physical geography are no less definite than the astounding disclosures which it makes in history--shadowing out1 where mountain chains now rise1 the seats of ancient sea bottoms--creeks and bays by lines of mudstones and conglomerates--continents that have been formed from islands1 and islands disrupted from continents--lakes1 estuaries1 and rivers displaced and silted up1 and now become the richest depositories of our mineral treasures4 ,the connection of ,great ,britain with ,france is a matter almost of demonstration4 ,a zone of primary crystalline rocks encompasses the western coast of both countries1 whence geology follows them from ,wales and ,cornwall into ,brittany and ,normandy4 ,the silurian1 devonian1 and carboniferous systems are arranged in the same order on both sides of the channel4 ,their chalk coasts are identical4 ,a succession of elevating movements1 depressions1 and dislocations1 is traceable everywhere along the southern counties of ,england1 where the line of disturbance1 from east to west1 has separated the chalk on the north and south1 and elevated the ,wealden into an anticlinal axis on the ,sussex coast4 ,the ,isle of ,wight has been so shaken by the convulsion1 as to have been literally tumbled over1 the whole cretaceous formation1 and every inferior deposit subjacent to the tertiaries1 being in an inverted position4 ,the existence1 too1 of a vast connecting stretch of land in the ,atlantic is far from being improbable1 whence the rivers of the ,wealden may have issued1 as well as much of the detrital matter been transported which now constitutes1 with their remarkable and varied organic exuvi1 the basins of ,london1 ,hampshire1 and ,paris4 ,very recently botany has come to the assistance of geology1 in a manner as remarkable as it was unsuspected4 ,it appears that1 along the coast line of ,great ,britain and ,ireland1 there are several distinct floras or groups of plants1 and all geographically related to existing families on the opposite coasts of the ,continent4 ,the flora of the west of ,ireland corresponds to that on the north-west of ,spain--the south-west of ,england1 and also of ,ireland1 presents groups allied to those on the north-west of ,france1--and1 again1 one is common to the north coast line of ,france1 and south-east of ,england1--while the fourth and fifth have their types in the alpine flora developed in the ,scottish and ,welsh mountains1 and the mixed and diversified tribes more generally distributed over ,ireland1 ,england1 and ,germany4 ,the assumption implied in this botanic speculation is1 that these are the remains of a state of things no longer enduring1 proofs of the existence of hotter or colder climates than now prevail1 and the indications of a configuration of land and sea when a great mountain barrier extended across the ,atlantic from ,ireland to ,spain4 ,the distribution of the second and third sets of vegetation depended on the connection of ,england with ,france and ,germany1 when a sea covered a large portion of the south of ,europe1 and the upheaval of whose bed1 which constitutes the latest of the tertiary deposits1 gave rise to a vast continent1 comprising ,spain1 ,ireland1 the north of ,africa1 the ,azores1 and the ,canaries4 ,the alpine flora of ,scotland and ,wales was effected during the glacial period--to be afterward noticed--when the mountain summits of ,britain were low islands or members of an archipelago extending over the ,frozen ,ocean1 and clothed with an arctic vegetation which1 in the gradual upheaval of those islands and consequent change of climate1 became limited to the summits of the still existing mountains4 ,professor ,edward ,forbes1 adopting in this curious speculation the views of ,mr4 ,hewet ,watson1 finds a corroboration of them in the peculiar distribution of endemic animals1 especially of the marine and terrestrial mollusca4 ,and he justly concludes that all the changes required for the events which he would connect with the distribution of the ,british flora1 are borne out by the geological phenomena that prevailed during the epoch of the several tertiary deposits4 #c4 ,geology1 moreover1 in deciphering the evidences of those stupendous operations which resulted in the statical1 mineral1 and organic arrangements merging in the modern epoch1 inculcates some important truths connected with the science of natural theology4 ,the mind1 indeed1 can never escape1 in these investigations1 from theistic conclusions4 ,step by step1 as we ascended through the component strata of the globe1 witnessed the modifications to which they were subjected1 and observed the successive introduction and extinction of so many types of animal and vegetable life1 we were just furnished with so many incontestable proofs of the direct interposition of ,almighty power4 ,if1 indeed1 ,i can read anything more clearly than another in these constantly recurring geological phenomena1 termed epochs and formations1 it is that of ,,interference with the established order of things4 ,i am conscious that matter did not originate itself4 ,i can see no power in what is termed a law of matter to constitute organic bodies4 ,the originator of matter must be the disposer of all its forms4 ,and when ,i see these forms so repeatedly changed1 assuming new shapes1 and giving new scope for varied and multiplied degrees of enjoyment1 ,i have only the more evidences and illustrations before me1 that creation and change are1 in these instances1 correlative terms4 ,the quadrupeds of the tertiary age are like nothing that preceded them in any of the orders or sections of animal existence4 ,their size1 structure1 and abundance1 equally rivet the attention4 ,and1 however long or short the period assigned them on earth1 they constitute a group of organic statuary1 too remarkable to have been slid in and out by the simple operations of material law4 ,the geological fact1 of formation after formation1 and of life after life1 lies at the foundation of the sublime truth1 that ,god is potentially in1 arranging and disposing anew1 the entire series of his works3 and when ,i see this mundane scene shifted in all its parts1 one system subverted1 and another so very different introduced2 and1 again1 the organic and inorganic condition of things readjusted1 and in keeping as before1 ,i at once rise in the contemplation of the change 8from nature up to nature's ,god40 ,geology1 ,i should thus conclude1 admits us a step nearer than any of the other sciences1 even than astronomy itself1 to the actings of the divine ,architect4 ,the revolution of every season demonstrates a providence--the workings of a perpetual miracle--in its sustaining energies4 ,but geology shows us1 not the mere annual renovation of things already existing1 but the circumstances under which they ,,began to exist4 ,the fiat of ,omnipotence peals through the bounds of creation4 ,the earth and the seas obey4 ,we see new things starting into being4 ,we are present1 as it were1 at the moment of their birth4 ,we see the molds out of which they are fashioned1 and the first provision made to sustain them4 ,geology1 in a word1 hangs up before us one of the brightest and most diversified pages in the book of nature1 inducing habits of thinking1 and constantly reminding us of the facts and relations1 that bodily and vividly keep before the mind the ever-active impress of the ,divinity at whose bidding-- 8,awakening nature hears ,the new creating word1 and starts to life ,in every heighten'd form40 ,,france ,,and ,,switzerland4 ,,part ,,iii4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,geological ,,structure ,,of ,,france--,,basin ,,of ,,paris4 ,,organic ,,remains4 ,on the continental side of the ,channel it will not be necessary to dwell1 in minute details1 upon any of the systems of rocks which are here presented4 ,what is ,france8 ,the tourist will say--,a two hours' voyage from the sister isle--a salt lake separates them--a pleasure trip is the measure of their estrangement4 ,the geologist will add--,and when safely landed1 one finds himself among the sights and objects1 the rocks and fossils1 which engaged his attention on the coast of ,albion1 the cliffs and downs of both countries being composed of the self-same materials4 ,i4 ,,the ,,physical ,,union ,,of ,,france ,,and ,,england1 although already adverted to1 falls again to be noticed4 ,the geographical distribution of the respective rocks of ,france and ,great ,britain forms a remarkable coincidence in giving shape and contour to their general outline4 ,thus1 the primary systems in both stretch along their western shores1 presenting a vast barrier-wall of the oldest and hardest rock against the incessant encroachments of the ,atlantic4 ,britanny and ,normandy consist almost entirely of granite1 gneiss1 mica-schist1 and silurian rocks2 on these repose the upper suites of the secondary strata1--the lias1 oolite1 and chalk--training to the south and east4 ,on the tertiary formations rest the secondary1 narrowing in their basins1 and preserving the same general line of bearing with the ,english beds1 and in both cases reaching their maximum of thickness and exuberance of fossils around the capitals of ,paris and ,london4 ,the old red sandstone is not indicated on the maps1 nor is it clearly ascertained to possess a habitat in the district in question4 ,the coal-measures are of very limited dimensions1 but in their due order of position at ,hardinger1 near ,boulogne1 and passing under the chalk and green sand1 continue in an easterly direction by ,valenciennes1 ,mons1 ,namur1 and ,liege1 to ,eschweiler1 near ,aix-la-,chapelle4 ,the new red sandstone1 of both divisions1 is amply developed along the eastern boundaries from ,semoy in ,ardennes to ,langrs and the borders of ,switzerland4 ,on the west again1 the tertiaries prevail from the mouth of the ,gironde to ,bayonne on the ,adour1 where they are exposed to the constant tearing and erosion of the rude surges of the ,bay of ,biscay1 while in the interior1 and over the district of ,auvergne1 the granites and gneiss are widely overlaid by the overflowings of the most recent extinct volcanoes2 the oldest and the newest plutonic rocks thus lying in immediate superposition and contact4 ,the rocks on this side of the channel are not indeed everywhere so well displayed1 nor do they crop out with the same successive regularity as in ,britain4 ,over extensive districts some disappear altogether1 while in other places patches are seen lying out of their due order of superposition2 not that in these instances the order is ever violated1 but that some of the intermediate members seem to be wanting1 and the remoter ones are in consequence found in contact4 ,still they conform to each other in their great line of section1 and occupy the same constant relative position in their respective basins4 ,here1 as in ,england1 the ,oolitic system embraces the ,cretaceous1 and extends in a larger semicircle round ,paris as a common center1 stretching from ,ardennes to ,normandy4 ,the ,lias1 again1 is inferior to the ,oolite1 and1 filling a wider space1 reposes on the transition slates of ,virreville on the western coast4 ,the ,plastic clay1 ,london ,clay1 and freshwater beds emerge in succession1 and maintain each their corresponding dimensions4 ,a remarkable grouping of rocks1 illustrative of the order of superposition1 occurs within the circuit of a few miles in the immediate vicinity of ,boulogne1 where resting upon the mountain limestone the following series may be observed3 ,coal1 ,oolitic marble1 ,purbeck and ,portland stone1 ,iron-sand1 ,wealden clay1 ,chalk marl1 ,green sand1 and ,chalk4 ,the ,plastic clay reposes upon the chalk at ,calais on the east of this group1 and on the west stretches along the coast from ,etaples to ,treport4 ,the period during which the two countries continued to be united superficially1 extended down at least to the last great upheaval of the bed of the ocean1 subsequent to the ,pleiocene deposits1 and probably even after the establishment of the current epoch4 ,the different formations we have been tracing are geologically connected over vast tracts of country2 these tracts once formed basins or inland seas1 into which their several suites of materials were drifted2 the extensive regions of the older formations were amply fitted to inclose them2 and1 when the uppermost or pleiocene series of the ,english beds were deposited1 one and the same shores and waters must have been common to the two countries--to the now insular as well as to the continental basins of the closing tertiary age4 ,one feels a real and enhanced pleasure in his researches1 and his speculations assume a wider and a loftier range1 as he casts a glance back to the white shores of ,britain1 and around upon the aspect of the country before him1 and sees that he is still treading the same soil1 threading his way among the same rocks1 ascending and descending the slopes and valleys of the same earthy accumulations1 varied only by slight local causes4 ,embarked upon the ,seine1 and along the banks of that lovely river1 there is laid open for inspection a series of deposits1 with every one of which we are already acquainted4 ,the resemblance is even more striking when we examine the vast undulating plains around1 and find the depressions1 elevations1 hills1 and general outline of surface all of a class2 and when we observe also the rocky foundations beneath to be one and the same--extensions merely of the same series of deposits1 and forming at no very distant geological period integral portions of one great continent4 ,combined with the subterranean movements which occasioned the dislocations1 and inversions often1 of the strata on both sides of the channel1 the action of oceanic currents and incessant beating of the waves may be looked to as the instruments which produced their severance4 ,the proofs are ample of the encroachments of the sea upon the eastern coast of ,england1 the sites of towns1 villages1 and extensive fields1 as marked on maps1 now forming sand-banks1 islands1 and marshy swamps4 ,the promontories and cliffs of ,yorkshire1 ,norfolk1 and ,suffolk are still1 as they were in ,pennant's time1 8perpetually preyed on by the fury of the ,german sea20 the whole site of ancient ,cromer is now under its waves2 the towns of ,shipden1 ,wimpwell1 and ,eccles1 have entirely disappeared2 large manors and even parishes have1 piece after piece1 been swallowed up2 nor has there been any intermission1 from time immemorial1 in the inroads of the sea along a line of coast twenty miles in length1 in which these places stood4#i ,the ravages1 from the same cause1 have been equally if not more violent on the shores of the channel1 the ,straits of ,dover1 and the whole south coast2 where slips of enormous magnitude are frequently recorded1 cliffs undermined1 and lands of considerable extent carried into the sea4 ,the ,isle of ,wight1 the peninsulas of ,purbeck and ,portland1 the promontories of ,devonshire and ,cornwall1 have all received their shape from the destructive agency1 as they are still preyed upon and consumed by the tides and currents to which they are incessantly exposed4 ,the ,french coast bears similar testimony to the inroads of the sea4 ,from ,calais to ,cherbourg1 with its magnificent dock-yard1 the line of shore is everywhere indented and stripped bare1 the strata undermined1 and huge masses toppling over the abyss or rising into lofty pyramids of the most grotesque and varied forms4 ,britanny lies open1 on every side1 to the full swell of the ,atlantic1 where very recent as well as more ancient history attests the ravages of the waters in the destruction of towns and woods1 the inundation of whole parishes1 the severance of the hill of ,st4 ,michael from the main land1 and1 according to tradition1 in the obliteration of the south-western district1 of unknown extent4 ,familiarized to facts such as these1 and their necessary deductions1 the mind no longer startles at the notion of the former physical union of the two countries4 ,the agency seen in operation is demonstrably adequate to the effect4 ,the straits are narrow4 ,their greatest depth between ,dover and ,calais is twenty-nine fathoms4 ,the bed throughout is composed of the same stratum of chalk-rock1 while a submarine chain extending from ,boulogne to ,folkestone is only a few fathoms under low water4 ,accordingly the wave of the mighty 8ocean stream10 parted on the western coast1 met tide after tide on the opposite banks of the connecting peninsula or narrow tongue of land1 the one portion winding round by the ,orcades and rolling up the ,german ,sea1 and the other portion beating on the line of cliffs facing to the west4 ,the softer sedimentary deposits of the tertiaries would rapidly yield to the constant erosive action2 the harder strata of the chalk1 bared and undermined1 would speedily follow2 and thus1 in a period comparatively short1 the entire mass would be carried away1 and the gulf of separation be irrevocably effected4 ,as a proof that ,france and ,england were united1 and that these operations were continued within the human epoch1 ,m4 ,desmarest1 in his prize essay on this subject1 proposed in #agec by a society at ,amiens1 adduces the fact1 that the noxious animals in both countries are identical1 creatures which were not fitted to swim across the straits1 and were not of a kind to be willingly introduced by man4 ,but ,desmarest in this only followed the views of an older writer1 and from whose work1 8,restitution of ,decayed ,intelligence10 all his facts and reasonings are obviously borrowed4 ,this curious volume is the production of ,richard ,verstegan1 written about two hundred and fifty years ago1 and dedicated to ,james ,i4 of ,great ,britain4 ,the principal object of the author is to trace out the origin of the western nations1 and more especially of 8the most noble and renowned ,english nation10 as discoverable in their language and other antiquities4 ,the fourth chapter of this quaint work is entitled1 8,how the ,isle of ,albion is showed to have been continent or firm land with ,gallia1 now named ,france1 since the ,flood of ,noah40 ,verstegan holds the doctrine that 8in whatever manner and form it pleased ,almighty ,god1 in the beginning of the world1 to divide the sea from the dry land1 is unto us wholly unknown2 but altogether unlikely it is that there were any isles before the deluge20 and to this event he ascribes the disruption of much of the dry land and the formation of islands4 ,the connection of ,france and ,england continued long after this1 and their severance1 he believes1 was produced by the operation of existing causes4 ,the narrow isthmus by which they were conjoined extended across the ,straits of ,dover1 just as ,africa is united to ,asia by the ,isthmus of ,suez1 or ,north and ,south ,america by the ,isthmus of ,panama4 ,this isthmus was breached by the action of the sea on both sides1 but the sea being lower on the west side1 the current swept with greater violence through this new channel1 8toward the most huge ,western ,ocean1 the greater divider of ,europe and ,africa1 from the late found ,america40 ,he notices the identity of cliffs on the opposite sides of the straits1 the submarine ridge which extends from ,folkestone to ,boulogne1 the existence of marine shells all over the ,netherlands and adjacent countries1 and their consequent submergence before the sea was permitted to retreat through the new course produced in the isthmus1 8and no way is there else to be found or imagined1 whereby these seas might be drained or drawn away40 ,he refers to the identity also of the noxious animals in ,england and ,france1 when our isle1 continuing since the flood fastened by nature to the great continent1 these wicked beasts did of themselves pass over2 nor is the earthquake omitted by the writer1 in his enumeration of causes whereby the sea1 first breaking through1 might afterward by little and little enlarge her passage2 and the labor of man1 too1 had its share1 when the inhabitants of the one side or the other by occasion of war did cut it1 thereby to be sequestered and freed from their enemies4 ,such is the train of illustration employed by ,richard ,verstegan1 at a time when the state of the science of geology could furnish him with few helps2 and but little indeed has been added by subsequent observers1 except a few additional facts and inferences1 which serve to confirm his conclusions4 ,he remarks that such too had been the opinions of others1 as of ,antonius ,volscus1 ,marius ,niger1 ,servius ,honoratus1 the ,french poet ,bartas1 and our own countrymen1 ,john ,twin and ,dr4 ,richard ,white2 but these simply held the connection of the two countries as a matter of opinion1 without laboring to find out 8by sundry frequent reasons1 that so it was indeed40#aj ,england long dominated in ,france1 crowned her princes ,sovereigns of ,navarre and the adjacent provinces1 and ,agincourt1 ,cressy1 and ,poictiers tell where man waged war against his fellow-man1 over the remains of races long extinct1 denizens of the same land1 and propelled by instincts fierce alike for mastery or destruction4 ,what a moral effect has been produced by the physical severance of the two nations1 not only to themselves1 but to the rest of the world6 ,great ,britain1 freed from the connection1 can well afford to repose in peaceful majesty on her own shores1 improving the arts1 extending her commerce1 and communicating1 as the most noble and renowned nation the blessings of religion to the remotest parts of the globe4 ,,ii4 ,,organic ,,remains4 ,there are three districts in ,france which claim the special consideration of the geologist4 ,the first comprises the basin of the ,seine1 of which ,paris may be regarded as the center2 the second is the basin of the ,loire1 extending in the direction of the rivers ,gironde and ,adour2 the third is the volcanic district of ,auvergue1 embracing the tertiary and lacustrine formations1 which have excited much geological speculation4 ,the ,silurian beds of ,britanny are in many places absolutely loaded with ,trilobites1 which have found an able expositor in ,m4 ,marie ,rouault2 and the ,new ,red ,sandstone1 which skirts the ,vosges mountains1 is equally remarkable for the fossils1 vegetable and animal1 peculiar to the ,permian system4 ,,the ,,basin ,,of ,,the ,,seine4 ,the series of rocks included in this district1 are described as the ,paris basin formation1 where1 amidst their fossiliferous remains1 the genius of ,cuvier shone forth and captivated the world by his wonderful disclosures in the science of comparative anatomy4 ,the deposits occupy a depression in the chalk upon which they rest unconformably1 like those of the ,london basin3 they agree generally in their organisms1 but differ considerably in the quality of their respective materials4 ,blue clay with imbedded calcareous and argillaceous bands characterize the ,london formation1 while that of ,paris is distinguished by a superabundance of white limestones1 marls1 and gypsum4 ,these rocks range over a vast extent of superficial area1 being in their greatest length from ,n4 ,e4 to ,s4 ,w4 about one hundred and eighty miles1 and from ,e4 to ,w4 about ninety miles4 ,they belong to the ,eocene period1 consist of alternating groups of marine and fresh water strata1 and have been arranged in the following order1 according to the corrected diagram of ,m4 ,constant ,prevost1 who has considerably modified the earlier tabular arrangements of ,cuvier and ,brongniart3--,plastic clay1 ,calcaire grossier1 ,calcaire silicieux1 ,gypsum1 ,marls1 ,marine and fresh water strata4 ,the plastic clay and sand consist of intercalating argillaceous and gritty beds1 containing a considerable quantity of lignite and fresh water shells4 ,this deposit is not continuous throughout the basin1 nor is it always lowest in position4 ,in some places it rests upon a marine calcaire grossier1 and in other places it is mixed up and imbedded in it1 clearly showing that a river charged with argillaceous sediment entered a bay of the sea and drifted down1 from time to time1 wood and fresh water shells4 ,no remains of mammalia have been detected in the plastic clay reposing on the chalk4 ,the ,calcaire grossier is composed of a coarse limestone1 often passing into sand1 and extremely rich in testacea1 a locality near ,gignon alone furnishing about four hundred distinct species4 ,the ,calcaire silicieux is a compact silicious limestone1 almost destitute of organisms1 and from its strong resemblance to the precipitates of mineral springs1 as well as the fact that the few fossils contained in it are all of the land and fresh water species1 it is justly inferred that the deposit is of fresh water origin4 ,the ,gypsum1 with its associated ,marls1 is a saccharoid rock of considerable thickness1 and constitutes the hill of ,montmartre and other elevations toward the center of the basin4 ,here occur the remarkable variety as well as abundance of those organic remains which have given so much celebrity to the ,paris basin4 ,fishes1 reptiles1 crocodiles1 tortoises1 birds1 bats1 mice1 squirrels1 opossums1 gigantic mammoths1 ,anoplotheriums1 and palm-wood1 are all interred in this receptacle of the extinct dead4 ,the remains of about fifty species of quadrupeds alone have been detected in the deposit1 some of them1 to the minutest organ1 in the highest state of preservation--all of them extinct--and nearly four-fifths belonging to a division ,pachydermata or thick-skinned animals4 ,immediately above the gypseous formation is an oyster-bed1 of great superficial extent2 this is succeeded by beds of sand1 entirely destitute of fossils1 forming a suitable covering to the countless millions which lie interred beneath4 ,reader6 pause and reflect upon this enumeration of the rocky strata1 and their contents1 which compose the ,paris basin4 ,what vast accumulations1 now of terrestrial floods1 now of inroads from the ocean--here a deposit1 testifying to the fact of some great inland lake1 with huge monsters browsing on its banks or reposing in its shallows--there another1 bearing witness to 8the strength of a mountain river10 combating with the waves of an estuary1 and each wearying of the conflict and mingling their spoils from land and sea in one common mass4 ,neptune is again triumphant1 and leaves as the trophies of victory whole families and tribes of his own domains4 ,silvanus now asserts and establishes his reign1 and the ,genet1 ,raccoon1 ,opossom1 the ,squirrel1 ,woodcock1 and ,buzzard are there to proclaim his sway4 ,the ,nereids too had their doings1 and both genera and species of seven extinct nondescript fishes show their powers4 ,and1 last of all1 come the ,naads of the streams1 presenting you with their offering in the ,quail1 ,curlew1 and ,pelican1 along with ,tortoises and ,crocodilians4 ,count and enter upon your list1 as found in the gypseous formation alone1 eleven or twelve species of the ,palotherium1 an animal partaking of the respective structures of the rhinoceros1 the horse1 and the tapir2 of the ,anoplotherium five species1 commingling the light and graceful form of the gazelle with the conformation of the camel2 fifteen species of the ,lophiodon1 closely allied to the former1 but partaking also of the qualities of the hippopotamus2 seven species of the ,anthracotherium1 a creature whose dimensions through the various members of the family swell out from the size of the hog to that of the hippopotamus2 the ,chropotamus1 allied to the suid1 and forming a link between the ,anoplotherium and the existing ,peccary2 and1 lastly1 as closing the list of this remarkable race of thick-skinned animals1 we are presented with specimens of the ,adapis1 of hedgehog appearance1 but in size three times larger1 and uniting in characters the insectivorous carnivora with the ,pachydermata4 ,it is recorded of ,newton1 that1 toward the close of his wonderful calculations1 when it seemed that the arithmetical results were to be in harmony with the dynamical problem to be solved1 when he felt on the verge of determining one of the most important laws ever discovered by man1 and which forever would bind the heavens to the earth--the nerves of the calculator gave way for a time1 and he was unable to finish his task4 ,he called in the aid of a friend1 pacing the room in tumultuous agitation while the few last terms were being added4 ,it is impossible for any other mind to realize the intensity of the geometer's feelings when the result was announced6 ,knowing how trifling a novelty will at times agitate the finest minds1 no wonder need be that ,newton was affected by an uncontrollable tremor1 when he saw that the discovery was made and tested1 not only of the law that binds together the particles of matter which compose our earth1 but also that which unites the heavenly orbs in all their majesty with the simplest of terrestrial phenomena2 and demonstrates that1 over the descent of a leaf in the forest--the drooping of a blade of grass--a pebble tossed upon the shore--a mote rising and falling in the sunbeam--a drop issuing from the rain-cloud--there is the same regulating power as that which retains the planets in their orbits1 and determines their course through infinite space4 ,cuvier1 in simple but eloquent words1 has recorded1 in the ,introduction to his 8,ossemens ,fossiles10 the state of his feelings as he established his discoveries1 and proceeded in his task of reconstructing his singular menagerie from the dry bones of ,montmartre in the basin of ,paris4 8,i at length10 he says1 8found myself as if placed in a charnel-house1 surrounded by mutilated fragments of many hundred skeletons1 of more than twenty kinds of animals1 piled confusedly around me2 and the task assigned me was to restore them all to their original position4 ,at the voice of comparative anatomy1 every bone and fragment of a bone resumed its place4 ,i cannot find words to express the pleasure ,i experienced in seeing1 as ,i discovered ,,one ,,character1 how all the consequences which ,i predicted from it were successively confirmed2 the feet were found in accordance with the characters announced by the teeth2 the teeth in harmony with those indicated beforehand by the feet2 the bones of the legs and thighs1 and every connecting portion of the extremities1 were found set together precisely as ,i had arranged them before my conjectures were verified by the discovery of the parts entire2 in short1 each species was1 as it were1 reconstructed from a single one of its component elements40 ,cuvier proceeded upon the principle1 that every organized individual forms an entire system of its own1 all the parts of which mutually correspond1 and that none of these separate parts can change their forms without a corresponding change on the other parts of the same individual body4 ,where the viscera1 for example1 are so constructed as only to be fitted for the digestion of recent flesh1 it is requisite that the jaws should be so formed as to fit them for devouring prey--the claws for seizing and tearing it to pieces--the teeth for cutting and dividing its flesh--the limbs or organs of motion for pursuing and overtaking it--and the organs of sense for discovering it at a distance4 ,but under this general principle in the structure of carnivorous animals1 the ingenious anatomist further discovered that there are several particular modifications1 depending upon the size1 the manners1 and the haunts of prey for which each species is destined or fitted by nature2 and that1 from each of these particular modifications1 there result certain differences in the more minute conformations of particular parts4 ,hence it follows1 that there will exist distinct indications in every one of their parts1 not only of the classes and orders of animals1 but also of their genera and species4 ,thus1 in order that the jaw may be well adapted for laying hold of objects1 it is necessary that its condyle should have a certain form2 that the resistance1 the moving power1 and the fulcrum1 should all have a certain relative position with respect to each other4 ,to enable the animal to carry off its prey when seized1 a corresponding force is requisite in the muscles which elevate the head2 and this again gives rise to a determinate form of the vertebr to which these muscles are attached1 and of the occiput into which they are inserted4 ,the teeth of a carnivorous animal require to be sharp1 in proportion to the greater or less quantity of flesh that they have to cut2 their roots to be solid and strong1 in proportion to the quantity and the size of the bones that have to be broken2 and these conditions of structure will necessarily influence the development and form of the several parts that contribute to move the jaws4 ,the strength of the claws1 in like manner1 and the mobility of the paws and toes1 have a necessary relation to the forms of the bones in the feet1 and the distribution of the muscles and tendons by which they are moved4 ,as the bones of the forearm are articulated with the humerus1 no change can be made in the form and structure of the former without occasioning correspondent changes in the form of the latter4 ,the shoulder-blade also1 or scapula1 requires a correspondent degree of strength in all carnivorous animals1 while the play and action of the several parts are dependent on the muscles which set them in motion1 and the impressions formed by these muscles still further determine the forms of all these bones4 ,again1 the shape and structure of the teeth regulate the forms of the condyle1 of the scapula1 and of the claws1 in the same manner as the equation of a curve regulates all its other properties2--and1 as in regard to any particular curve1 all its properties may be ascertained by assuming each separate property as the foundation of a particular equation1 in the same manner a claw1 a shoulder-blade1 a condyle1 a leg or arm bone1 or any other bone separately considered1 leads to the discovery of the characters of teeth to which they have belonged2 and reciprocally from the teeth we are enabled to discover the structure and forms of the other bones4 ,thus1 conducting his investigations by a careful survey of the bones and organs individually and separately1 the skillful anatomist was enabled to reconstruct the whole animal to which they severally had belonged4 ,the orders likewise and subdivisions of herbivorous1 ruminant1 hoofed1 and cloven-hoofed animals1 he determined with equal precision1 and found to result from the same constant laws of organization4 ,by employing the method of observation1 where theory was no longer able to direct his views1 ,cuvier was furnished with other astonishing results4 ,the smallest fragment of bone1 even the most apparently insignificant apophysis1 he found to possess a fixed and determinate character1 relative to the class1 order1 and genus of the animal to which it belonged2 insomuch that1 when he observed merely the articulating extremity of a well-preserved bone1 he could at once ascertain the species as certainly as if the entire animal had been before him4 ,proceeding after this method1 assisted by analogy and exact comparison1 ,cuvier has been enabled to determine the fossil remains of seventy-eight different quadrupeds1 in the viviparous and oviparous classes4 ,of these1 forty-nine are distinct species hitherto unknown1 twenty-seven of which are referable to seven new genera1 and the other twenty-two new species belong to sixteen genera1 or sub-genera1 already known2 while the whole number of genera and sub-genera1 to which the fossil remains of quadrupeds investigated belong1 are thirty-six1 including those both of known and unknown species2 some hoofed animals not ruminant1 and some ruminant--others gnawers and others carnivorous--two1 of the sloth genus1 toothless--and two1 amphibious animals1 of two distinct genera4 ,such are the triumphs of science1 which always lead to a profounder admiration of the works of ,nature1 in the immensity and constancy of those laws that have prevailed through all time1 and where her wisdom and foresight are demonstrated by a series of systematic contrivances and mutual adaptations to which she invariably adheres4 ,in the remote invisible depths of space1 slight oscillations have from time to time been detected1 and following up the researches1 astronomy1 as announced beforehand1 is rewarded by the discovery of a new planet4 ,the earth gives up its dead1 entombed for ages in its stony matrix4 ,at the bidding of science their figures are restored1 their habits determined1 their very food ascertained1 their characters for ferocity or otherwise brought to light1 and they are all1 each after their kind1 called by their names4 ,what a mastery in all this over the extinct forms of organic nature1 as ,newton manifested in a different way in his wonderful deductions and calculations respecting the molecules of inorganic nature and the physical heavens6 ,,iii4 ,the ,paris basin1 which consists of the lower or eocene series of the tertiary system1 is inclosed nearly on all sides by the middle or miocene group of strata4 ,these1 however1 are most fully developed along the district of the ,loire and its tributaries1 as the former are chiefly confined to the water-shed of the ,seine and the environs of ,paris4 ,we thus advance a step upward in the ,course of ,creation1 while so far as geology has been able to mark the progress1 the last stages of the stupendous work1 prior to the introduction of its noblest inhabitant1 are to be discovered in the ,,pleiocene deposits that immediately succeed1 stretching over the western shores from ,bordeaux to ,bayonne4 ,,the ,,basin ,,of ,,the ,,loire4 ,the rocks which compose these upper layers of the earth's crust1 have all a family resemblance to the tertiaries already described4 ,in the district of the ,loire the miocene beds consist generally of quartzose sand1 gravel1 and broken shells1 mostly loose and earthy1 but in many places agglutinated by a calcareous or ferruginous cement1 so as to be fit for building purposes4 ,the 8faluns10 as they are provincially termed1 resemble the crag of ,england1 abounding in shells1 and mammiferous remains incrusted with serpul1 flustra1 and balani1 ,the deposit is seldom above seventy feet in its greatest thickness4 ,betwixt ,sologne and the sea1 patches are found to rest successively upon gneiss1 clayslate1 the coal-measures1 ,jura limestone1 greenstone trap1 chalk1 and the upper beds of the eocene series4 ,the pleiocene beds are not materially different in their lithological characters from those of the miocene group3 blue clays1 marls1 and osseous breccias are among the prevailing strata2 and siltings of sand and gravel1 only distinguishable by their organic remains from the alluvia and superficial drifts of the current era4 ,volcanic products are often largely mixed up with these pleiocene beds1 and in districts where1 in addition to the fossil evidence1 they clearly establish that they belong to the class of extinct volcanoes1 as the sedimentary deposits are themselves determined to belong to the pleiocene age4 ,illustration3 ,restored ,form of ,dinotherium4 ,the interesting peculiarity connected with these two groups of the tertiary system is1 that here all animal as well as vegetable life approaches a step nearer to the existing family types4 ,analogous species of molluscs are more numerous1 the testacea in many instances being identical with those of our modern seas4 ,the mammalia are likewise more akin to those of our domesticated tribes1 where the horse is strikingly prefigured in the hippotherium1 the dog in the agnotherium1 and the cat in feline forms as large as lions4 ,the glutton and the bear have also their compeers1 nor are the fox1 hare1 and mouse1 without their representatives4 ,but the marvel of the formation is the ,,dinotherium or gigantic tapir1 whose dimensions in every organ and member are stupendous4 ,the dinotherium was seemingly possessed of powers which enabled him at once to exercise the digging propensities of the mole and amphibious habits of the walrus1 a trunk projecting nearly as long as that of the elephant1 and two enormous tusks depending from the lower jaw4 ,this animal was partly terrestrial and partly aquatic1 and hence1 says ,dr4 ,buckland1 the tusks may also have been applied to hook on the head to the bank1 with the nostrils sustained above the water1 so as to breathe securely during sleep1 while the body remained floating at ease beneath the surface4 ,thus would he repose1 moored to the margin of a lake or river--the huge body1 of eighteen feet in length1 with a corresponding thickness1 indolently basking in the sun-beams1 or quietly cooling after exertion in the limpid wave--and these enormous tusks1 ready to release him at a bound1 when attacked by the enemy beneath4 ,the dinotherium existed during the miocene period1 and constitutes an intermediate link between the tapir and the mastodon4 ,it has left abundant remains in the basin of the ,rhine1 in ,bavaria and ,austria1 and in several districts of the formation in ,france4 ,the tertiaries have a wide geographical distribution1 and cover a vast extent of superficial area4 ,stretching from the ,rhone to the ,danube1 they are found in every part of central and southern ,europe1 along the ,julian ,alps1 and over the interior of ,italy1 from ,ancona to ,turin4 ,the eocene group is ascertained1 from the character of its fossils1 and especially by its nummulites and echinoderms1 to extend from the ,mediterranean1 through ,egypt1 ,asia-,minor1 and ,persia1 to ,hindostan1 and there to occupy large regions forming the western and northern limits of ,british ,india4 ,this enormous mass of tertiary strata was drifted into lakes or estuaries1 whereby the mind is carried back to a period when ,europe was chiefly lacustrine1 and all these countries eastward were as yet submerged in their waters4 ,what explanation can geology give of their elevation to the surface8 ,a scene of volcanic agency1 now and before the modern epoch extinct1 remains to be noticed1 which in part at least will furnish a probable solution of the changes then in operation or completed4 ,,central ,,france1 consisting of the districts of ,auvergne1 ,velay1 and ,viverais1 is universally admitted by geologists to be of volcanic origin4 ,the most cursory glance at the dome-shaped hills1 the basalt1 trachyte1 and scoriaccous ingredients of which they are composed1 at once satisfies the student of nature as to the class of rocks among which he here treads4 ,this region lies upon the river ,rhone1 nearly in the angle formed by it with the ,mediterranean1 and covers an area of forty or fifty leagues in diameter4 ,here are associated1 perhaps1 the earliest and the latest products of ,plutonic action1 the primary granites1 and the basaltic lavas of comparatively recent times4 ,the granite is flanked on the south and west by immense overliers of gneiss4 ,it may be described as the highlands of the country1 whence all the great rivers1 the ,seine1 the ,loire1 the ,gironde1 and their principal feeders1 take their rise4 ,the mountains1 though not remarkable for elevation1 now that we are approaching true ,alpine peaks1 reach the height of four1 five1 and six thousand1 and the ,aurillac group to nearly seven thousand feet above the level of the sea2 but what a geological series of events is embraced within the period of their physical history6 ,the great depository arrangements of the globe have1 one and all1 succeeded to those paroxysmal movements that raised their tops above the primeval seas4 ,race after race of living creatures have enjoyed their span of existence1 to be mixed up with the strata which during the interval have been collected and arranged in their various systems4 ,the crust of the earth from time to time was disrupted4 ,the depressions and fissures were as repeatedly replaced with new matter4 ,the tertiary period dawned upon ,creation1 when plain1 lake1 and seas1 were all teeming with an exuberance of terrestrial and aquatic life1--and when again all in the region of ,central ,france was disturbed1 and these newer molten rocks were erupted from beneath4 ,the subterranean fires1 wherever seated1 were thus1 after the lapse of geological epochs1 still glowing with intense vigor4 ,and1 just bordering on the advent of man1 the two classes of rocks would seem to have been placed in the closest proximity1 as if to remind him1 that the same ,omnipotent agency which created every single atom of his earthly habitation1 likewise determines every movement and advance of the structure1 and makes the near and the remote equally manifest the thunder of his power4 ,there cannot exist a doubt that the district in question was the seat of an extensive chain of lakes1 imbosomed amidst the primary rocks1 and silted up during the currency of the tertiary age1 partly by sedimentary and partly by igneous matter4 ,the unstratified masses which encircled their waters1 still stand out in bold relief from the well-defined strata that now occupy their basins4 ,a walk up any one of these valleys--and they are innumerable--or among the cones1 hundreds of which are scattered over the high grounds in the vicinity of ,gergovia1 will present to you in striking contrast these extremes of natural masonry4 ,one can almost trace1 in some localities1 the very fissures which opened in the sides of the granite rocks1 whence issued the molten flood that first perturbed the waters of the pure silent lakes4 ,no straining of the imagination is indeed required to trace the whole progress of their silting--now in the dark lava-current from the bowels of the earth1 and now in the collected debris from the mountain sides1 hurried down by the torrent or by their own convulsive throes--here the fine comminuted sand1 gently carried in by the stream1 and there the waste of animal life forming entire beds of calcareous marls of still unsullied freshness4 ,in the whole range of geology there is not1 in fact1 to be found anything more instructive and interesting than is displayed in these lacustrine deposits1 the extreme thinness often of the beds1 and the beautiful regularity of their superposition4 ,the lavas intermix1 and alternate repeatedly1 with the alluvial and organic strata4 ,a myriad of trickling rills fling themselves from the upheaved ridges1 so green and flowery to their summits2 they are collected into streams in the different ravines1 and sweeping through the deep-cut gorges1 lay open the interior to the depth of many hundred feet4 ,here the various igneous and aqueous groups can be read and studied in detail1 as they were quietly deposited or violently strewn upon one another4 ,the hill of ,la ,roche1 in the ,puy de ,jussat1 presents a face of a variegated quartzose grit of nearly seven hundred feet in thickness4 ,at ,chamalires1 near ,clermont1 the same deposit is equally well exposed4 ,green and white foliated marls are very abundant1 attaining a thickness sometimes of six to seven hundred feet1 and consisting chiefly throughout this immense depth of the shells of ,cypris1 a genus which comprises several species1 some of which are recent1 and still existing in the waters of our stagnant pools and ditches4 ,the structure of these beds1 in this volcanic region1 is as remarkable as the materials of their composition4 ,the strata divide into plates thin as paper1 which are piled up into laminated masses of several hundred feet1 of various colors1 but the white and green prevailing1 and the whole sometimes covered by rocky currents of trachytic or basaltic lava4 ,gypseous marls1 similar to those of ,montmartre1 have also contributed to the silting up of the lakes1 where1 as at ,st4 ,romain1 they are worked1 and extensively used for ornamental purposes4 ,a remarkable deposit occurs among the series1 termed the indusial limestone1 from the circumstance of its containing the cases or inducia of a tubular-form species of insects2 a creature that not only assisted individually toward the increment of the rock1 but possessed the power1 like its existing analogues1 of attaching to its body a load of shelly molluscs1 in some cases no less than a hundred of these minute shells being arranged around one tube1 while ten or twelve tubes are packed within the compass of a cubic inch4 ,some beds of this limestone are six feet thick1 and may be traced over a considerable area1 showing the countless number of insects and molluscs which contributed their integuments and shells to compose this singularly constructed rock4 ,the fibular coralline rocks of the ,keelan islands bear some faint resemblance to these ancient organic deposits1 where the insects build from beneath1 and gradually mount to the surface of the ocean when their work is done1 and they perish4 ,the ,phrygane of the tertiary age enjoyed their brief hour in the sunshine1 fulfilled their destiny1 sank into the waters1 and contributed to form rocks over their bottom4 ,they weaved not1 like the existing races of builders1 their own shroud1 though the materials in which they are entombed are mainly of their own construction--concretionary plates of the finest texture1 and indestructible as marble4 ,the lacustrine deposits in the department of the ,haute ,loire are nearly identical with those now described1 but concealed very much by the lava and scori that have flowed out in immense quantities in the trough of the river4 ,the best sections are exposed near the town of ,le ,puy1 where the sedimentary and erupted rocks are beautifully interstratified4 ,the ,aurillac basin1 in ,cantal1 is filled with similar materials1 although there is a greater proportion of silicious strata mixed with the calcareous marls4 ,indeed1 so much in this district does the silex predominate1 that a bed of tertiary limestone is covered with nodules of flint1 and resembling in appearance the upper chalks of ,england4 ,the fossil remains1 however1 clearly mark the distinction1 where we have the shells of the ,planorbis for those of the ,echinus1 and other fresh water testacea instead of the marine types of the ,cretaceous formation4 ,,iv4 ,,general ,,conclusions4 ,this district has been the theater of great volcanic action4 ,the epoch of its activity is clearly determined by the undoubted tertiary character of the formations with which its porous lavas and scori are intermixed4 ,basalts and trachytes1 of the same age1 texture1 and qualities1 are to be found in the various countries through which the deposits have been traced4 ,the granites1 porphyries1 and greenstones we have seen successively employed in raising up the symmetrical rocks of the grand palozoic systems1 and thereby giving shape1 stability1 and access to the economic and gradually-augmenting volume of the crust of the globe4 ,can we see in these last extinct throes of the interior1 the operations of the same great ,,final ,,cause--the overruling hand of power1 wisdom1 and goodness in the mineral arrangements and diversified ingredients of our earthly habitation8 ,take a glance at the extent and geographical situation of this family of rocks4 ,everywhere among the ,andes and ,cordilleras1 there are evidences of the elevation of large mountain-tracts1 through the agency of volcanoes now extinct1 and probably of the age in question4 ,a volcanic region in the north of ,spain1 extending over twenty square leagues1 from ,amer to ,massanet in ,catalonia1 is situated among the lower beds of the system1 penetrating a nummulitic limestone and other strata1 conjectured to belong to the age of our green sand and chalk4 ,the ,drachenfels on the ,rhine and the ,eifel chain of hills near ,bonn1 are likewise referable to this class of volcanic ejections4 ,the ,katakekaumene tract of mountains1 in ,asia-,minor1 is composed of comparatively recent volcanoes1 where ,mr4 ,hamilton conceives the great cones of ,mont ,dore1 the ,cantal1 and ,mont ,mezen in central ,france are represented by ,ak ,dgh1 ,morad ,dgh1 the trachytic hills east of ,takmak1 ,hassan ,dgh1 and ,mount ,argus4 ,similar eruptive indications have been traced by ,mr4 ,grant in the district of ,cutch1 situated near the eastern branch of the ,indus1 and consisting of large tracts of tertiary deposits4 ,the elevated regions of the ,tyrol1 the flanks of the ,bernese and ,swiss ,alps1 have been the scene of violent disturbance1 during and since the deposition of the tertiary formations2 and1 in the peninsula of ,italy1 there are numerous groups of volcanic origin1 as in ,tuscany the igneous rocks of ,radicofani1 ,viterbo1 and ,aquapendente1 and those of the ,campagna di ,roma1 which are of the same chronological series1 or probably not later than the pleiocene period4 ,the ,west ,india ,islands1 the ,azores1 ,iceland1 ,owhyhee where the peaks of ,mauna-,roa and ,mouna-,kaa rise to the height of between #ae1jjj and #af1jjj feet above the sea1 belong to the same class of phenomena4 ,thus in every quarter of the globe there have existed ,phlegran fields of ancient as well as of modern date1 whose convulsions anterior to all historic records are still traceable in the submergence and closing up of lakes1 the drainage of large tracts of land1 the upheaval of mountains1 and the reduction of the earth to existing superficial arrangements4 ,the products of these tertiary extinct volcanoes are indeed vastly inferior in amount to the ejections of the more ancient periods1 whose stupendous monuments are seen in the primary and secondary mountain-chains of granite1 porphyry1 and greenstone2 but still they had force enough to influence very extensive tracts of country1 to convulse and move large portions of the crust of the earth4 ,even now it is impossible to guess through how wide an extent1 in the subterranean regions1 the shock of earthquakes is simultaneously felt4 ,not less than #ajj1jjj square miles of country were permanently elevated by the ,chili earthquake of #ahbb1 from two to six feet above its former level1 and part of the bottom of the sea remained dry at high water1 with beds of oysters1 muscles1 and other shells adhering to the rocks on which they grew4 ,the contemplation of volcanic phenomena in ,south ,america1 has led ,mr4 ,darwin to remark that1 in order to comprehend the vast surface which was affected by the earthquake in ,chili1 and which destroyed ,conception1 in ,february #ahce1 it had a north and south range equal in extent to the distance between the ,north ,sea and the ,mediterranean--that we must imagine the eastern coast of ,england to be permanently raised1 and a train of volcanoes to become active in the southern extremity of ,norway--also that a submarine volcano burst forth near the northern extremity of ,ireland--and that the long dormant volcanoes of the ,cantal and ,auvergne1 each sent up a column of smoke4 ,it need1 therefore1 excite no wonder that geologists have felt themselves warranted to ascribe the elevation not only of the sedimentary formations in central ,france to the volcanic movements of the district1 but likewise those of the ,paris and ,london basins1 as well as the general rise and dislocation of the strata along the southern and eastern coasts of ,england4 ,the cause1 as compared with recent and still daily observed phenomena1 was abundantly adequate to effect the results4 ,other districts would be simultaneously influenced2 the tertiary deposits in their various successive groups were all arranged under similar circumstances and exposed to similar changes2 and hence a doubt can scarcely exist1 that all these geological basins1 and this vast superficies of tertiary matter1 were cotemporaneously elevated1 as well as subjected to one and the same range of subterranean convulsion4 ,as an approximation to the period when this district was last subject to volcanic action1 it may be noticed that the craters of ,auvergne and the ,cantal had all ceased to emit fire or were just expiring1 when those of ,etna and ,vesuvius began their operations4 ,from whatever cause1 it would appear that the incandescent elements had here parted with their caloric or had shifted their position1 and that new vents were opened for them in the basin of the ,mediterranean4 ,these latter volcanoes may have been in activity before the historical epoch1 although the evidence must still be regarded as inconclusive1 and the violent efforts to fasten a collision upon revelation have utterly failed4 ,but in ,auvergne1 on the contrary1 little doubt exists of the priority of all the volcanic emissions to the human epoch4 ,when ,csar encamped among these narrow defiles1 his ,commentary is silent as to any eruptions save the irruption of his own legions4 ,the inhabitants1 as now1 were cultivating the vine or peacefully engaged in rural occupations1 as little dreaming of any disturbances from the interior1 as they were unprepared to resist the torrent of mail-clad warriors that poured through their valleys and devastated their fields4 ,the poet ,sidonius ,apollinaris had his residence on the borders of ,lake ,aidat1 but he sung not of the 8sublime0 in these upthroes of his native province4 ,nevertheless1 an immense degree of historic interest must ever attach to these volcanic rocks1 inasmuch as they are infinitely modern when compared with the primary and secondary formations1 the granites and the traps of ,britain4 ,they keep continually1 too1 before our eyes the fact of a succession of igneous operations1 and remind us that plutonic agencies have prevailed through all time1 and over regions which have only recently been liberated from their ravages2 that at any moment1 and at any place1 they may again burst forth1 when islands will be raised1 continents submerged1 the fertile plain laid waste1 and lakes1 estuaries1 and seas converted into dry land4 ,nor are there evidences wanting1 in existing volcanoes1 of the intensity of the fires which still glow within the interior of our earth4 ,there are at present more than ,,two ,,hundred volcanoes in active operation2 these are not confined to any particular zone1 but are distributed like those of the older families through the different quarters of the world4 ,the greater centers of action are situated in the mountain-ranges of ,south ,america1 along the western coast of ,north ,america1 and in the numerous islands of the ,southern ,pacific2 but at the same time there is scarcely a portion of the earth's crust that is not subjected to the shock of volcanic influence and the movement of earthquakes4 ,there are two theories by which all volcanic phenomena are attempted to be explained4 ,the more prevailing one among geologists is that which connects them with one great source of central heat--interior lakes of molten stone--the residue of that incandescent condition in which the globe originally appeared1 and out of which the primary crystalline strata were formed4 ,the other mode of explanation is that which supposes the internal heat to be the result of chemical and galvanic action among the materials composing the earth's crust4 ,the metallic and earthy bases1 upon contact with water1 everywhere transmitted through fissures and apertures on the surface1 burn1 melt1 and are converted into lavaform matter1 and which acting again as fuel1 serve to fuse the rocks among which they occur4 ,hence various gases will be generated sufficient to occasion much local disturbance2 though certainly not upon a scale to correspond with the magnitude1 universality1 and perpetuity of those changes that have resulted in the igneous products of the primary1 secondary1 or even tertiary formations4 ,but whatever be the source or cause1 the heat and the elements of heat have been in constant activity1 volcanoes and earthquakes1 like the hurricane and disease1 subserving important necessary purposes in the economy of nature4 ,humboldt was the first to remark the linear distribution of volcanic domes1 which he considered as vents placed along the edge of vast fissures1 communicating with reservoirs of igneous matter1 and extending across whole continents4 ,lyell1 considering that the earthquake and the volcano are probably the effects of the same subterranean process1 and that the subterranean movements are least violent in the immediate proximity of volcanic vents1 observes1 8that if the fused matter has failed several times to reach the surface1 the consolidation of the lava first raised and congealed will strengthen the earth's crust1 and become an additional obstacle to the protrusion of other fused matter during subsequent convulsions40 ,thus1 needful in all past time1 these igneous phenomena are needful still--in supplying and indurating new lands--in repairing the waste and continual encroachments of the sea--in keeping up a salutary degree of heat over the earth's crust1 and thereby perhaps essential toward maintaining the necessary volume of the earth's bulk4 ,nor will the fires within have fulfilled their law and purpose of inclosure until the ordinance of ,heaven in its creation be completed1 when the earth and the works therein shall be burnt up4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,alps--,,mont ,,blanc4 ,the ,pennine or ,western ,alps constitute the loftiest group of mountains in ,europe4 ,they consist of a vast chain of isolated peaks1 all of which are elevated above the region of perpetual snow4 ,mont ,blanc1 ,mont ,cervin1 and ,mont ,combin attain respectively to the heights of fifteen thousand seven hundred and thirty-two feet1 fourteen thousand eight hundred and fifty-five feet1 and fourteen thousand one hundred and twenty-five feet1 above the level of the sea4 ,this group is succeeded by that of the ,bernese ,alps1 of which the ,jungfrau is the most conspicuous1 reaching the altitude of thirteen thousand seven hundred and eighteen feet4 ,the ,helvetian ,alps lie to the east and south of these two ranges1 rising in ,mont ,rosa to the height of fifteen thousand one hundred and fifty feet into the same aerial frozen regions4 ,the rivers ,rhine and ,rhone spring from the glaciers which occupy the valleys intermediate betwixt the ,bernese and ,helvetian mountains1 while the ,po1 rising among the ,cottian ,alps on the south-west1 derives its principal tributaries from the same alpine sources with its larger twin-sisters4 ,switzerland1 thus bounded on the south1 is walled in along the entire northern frontier by the range of the ,jura mountains1 whose loftiest point1 the ,le ,reculet1 is five thousand six hundred and twenty-seven feet above the sea level4 ,the mountains of ,savoy stretch along the left bank of the ,lake of ,geneva4 ,mont ,pilatus1 the ,rigi1 and other noted hills of tourists1 occupy the eastern central division of the country1 among which are situated the largest cluster as well as the most celebrated of the lakes4 ,the great valley of ,switzerland1 the territory proper of the cantons ,vaud1 ,fribourg1 ,berne1 and ,soleure--within which lie all the principal towns1 those of the old ,roman and all of modern times--forms an extended plateau or basin1 inclosed by an amphitheater of mountain land1 diversified at intervals by low swelling ridges1 undulating hills1 precipitous ravines1 the deep-set channels of turbid streams1 and lovely lakes imbosomed in orchards1 vineyards1 and meadows of the most luxuriant pasturage4 ,the two great rivers1 embracing the entire drainage of the country and of all the lakes1 debouch through narrow gorges at opposite sides of the ,swiss territory1 and pursue1 nearly at right angles to each other1 their respective courses until they mingle their waters--the one in the ,mediterranean1 and the other in the ,northern ,ocean4 ,the little town of ,neufchtel1 so often alluded to1 lies on the north bank of the lake of the same name1 the ,jura mountains gently sloping up behind4 ,in the suburbs1 forming one of a row of detached unpretending houses1 is situated the neat chteau of ,m4 ,agassiz in the middle of a small garden1 which rests against the hills1 and is bounded on the south by the waters of the lake4 ,a most fitting habitation for the great ichthyologist1 surrounded as it is with the noblest scenery1 and replete in every locality with the richest treasures of his favorite study4 ,i visited the place in the autumn of #ahdf1 unfortunately when ,m4 ,agassiz had just left for ,america3 in a beautiful evening strolled through the garden and adjoining inclosures1 and was pleased to observe numerous traces in the rocks1 and in some fossil relics lying about1 of his studies and researches4 ,the geology of the ,alps1 the last stage in our self-elected course1 is of the most complicated character4 ,the researches of ,studer1 ,escher1 and ,brunner1 natives of the country1 have served to establish the general superposition and normal arrangement of the various groups of strata1 as those of the illustrious ,de ,saussure had long before been directed to determine their mineral distinctions1 and chiefly their classification upon mineralogical principles1 into separate crystalline masses4 ,the labors again of ,brongniart1 ,deshayes1 ,agassiz1 ,d',orbigny1 and ,brown1 have been mainly employed upon their organic remains1 with a view to ascertain the geological epochs within which the several suites of rocks have originated4 ,our own countrymen1 ,buckland1 ,lyell1 ,sedgwick1 and ,murchison1 have attempted to systematize still further the alpine deposits1 as well as those of ,italy and ,germany1 by showing their relations to the well-marked divisions of our ,british systems2 and the result is1 that over all these widely-extended regions1 and amidst all the metamorphism1 contortion1 dislocation1 and upheaval of such lofty ranges1 there is a true transition from the ,silurian1 ,devonian1 and ,carboniferous rocks existing in the eastern ,alps into the higher secondary and tertiary strata of the western or ,swiss ,alps4 ,it would be impossible within our limits to furnish even a moiety of the details and evidences by which the intricate structure of the ,alps has been so successfully unraveled1 and the arrangement of nature in the due order of superposition so persistently maintained4 ,we shall simply advert to the equivalents of the ,english strata which have been satisfactorily ascertained1 and shall then consider some of the more interesting phenomena connected with the age1 elevation1 erratic blocks1 and glaciers of this ,alpine country4 ,i4 ,,general ,,structure4 ,the great central axis of the ,alpine region1 stretching from the ,rhone to the ,danube1 consists mainly of the primary crystalline rocks4 ,the granite is everywhere accompanied by gneiss1 mica-schist1 chlorite-schist1 silicious and serpentine limestones4 ,the upper silurian1 devonian1 and carboniferous systems are distinctly represented in the eastern ,alps2 but no traces of the ,permian deposits have been detected in them or in any part of southern ,europe2 while again in following the central parts of the chain from ,austria into ,switzerland and ,savoy1 all fossil evidences of the four sedimentary systems disappear4 ,the conclusion arrived at by geologists1 therefore1 is that for these palozoic and triassic formations there exist no representatives among any of the vast piles of strata of the western ,alps2 or1 if they ever had a place in this part of the chain1 that they have been obliterated by the powerful transmuting action of metamorphism1 or plunged to inaccessible depths beneath the upraised edges of the primary series4 ,coal plants1 and anthracite coal itself1 have both indeed been found in the valley of the ,arve in ,savoy1 at ,tarentaise1 ,maurienne1 and along the base of ,mont ,blanc2 but as they occur in connection with belemnites1 these beds have been referred by ,m4 ,e4 de ,beaumont and others to the ,lias formation1 which is clearly determined by its numerous animal fossils to exist in this part of the chain4 ,the remarkable picturesque rocks of ,varennes1 ,duron1 and the ,col de ,balme belong to the lias deposit--the grandest specimens1 perhaps1 of natural architecture anywhere to be seen4 ,but1 making allowance for all the uncertainties of their lithological complement1 and quitting all points of a doubtful character1 it has been satisfactorily established that the flanks of the ,swiss ,alps are covered by a series of sedimentary deposits of vast thickness1 which form a true transition from the newer secondary into the older tertiary strata4 ,the normal arrangement of rocks within these limits is complete1 beginning with the lias and terminating in distinctly recognized beds of the tertiary pleiocene group4 ,the lias formation is largely developed along the northern1 eastern1 and south-western side of the chain1 forming an immense belt from near the foot of the ,jungfrau1 in the central district of ,switzerland1 to ,savona in the ,gulf of ,genoa4 ,the oolitic formation succeeds1 on a scale of still greater magnitude1 having a continuous stretch from the ,mediterranean at ,toulon to ,vienna1 on the ,danube2 again constituting an enormous deposit along the ,jura range of mountains2 and then by ,ulm1 ,altmuhl1 and ,amberg1 to ,beyruth1 with its celebrated bone caves1 in the heart of ,germany4 ,the ,oxfordian group are represented by the 8,neocomian0 limestones1 a series of hard subcrystalline strata1 abounding in fossils of the gault and upper green-sand4 ,to these succeed beds of red1 gray1 and white marly limestones1 containing ,gryph1 ,inocerami1 and ,ananchytes1 and regarded as the equivalents1 as they are undoubtedly in the position1 of the white chalks of ,england4 ,a supercretaceous group1 consisting of nummulitic and shelly rocks1 the 8flysch0 of the ,swiss1 constitutes the close of the secondary1 and graduates conformably and insensibly upward1 by mineral and zoological passages1 into the eocene system4 ,the vast beds of strata1 which are termed the 8molasse0 and 8nagelflue10 contain in the lower series a large proportion of living species of marine shells1 while the associated and overlaying strata of terrestrial origin are loaded with forms all of which are extinct4 ,in this group there is nevertheless shadowed forth a type of rocks characteristic both of a miocene and pleiocene age2 but so anomalous is their arrangement1 that the younger are often found to dip under the older rocks out of which they have been formed4 ,and as of these1 so generally of the entire ,alpine series now referred to1 the position of the various groups in particular localities can only be unraveled in their flexures1 dislocations1 and displacements1 by means of the organic remains with which they severally abound4 ,,ii4 ,the ,,superficial ,,accumulations embrace a wide-spread class of geological phenomena4 ,these have originated in causes some of which are still in active operation1 others are dormant1 and others again may be considered as belonging to agencies which may be termed extraordinary1 or permitted only at intervals to display themselves4 ,the effects of their operations are visible1 less or more1 in every part of the surface of the globe4 ,they have been termed the ,,pleistocene group1 and consist of both marine and fresh water materials4 ,to these are referred the bowlder-clay formation1 the vast deposits of sand and gravel heaped up in valleys1 the erratic blocks spread over hill-tops1 and the various kinds of detrital matter which1 although often laminated1 is loose and unstratified1 and clearly distinguishable from the more indurated and subjacent beds composing the earth's crust4 ,nor in gathering up the links of this extended field of review1 will it be possible to omit all mention of glaciers and their moraines1 so intimately connected with ,alpine scenery4 ,the sand1 gravel1 and drift accumulations of every kind are common to every country where waters flow or valleys exist4 ,they cover the great straths of ,scotland1 the low steppes of ,russia1 the lofty gorges of the ,himalaya1 the desert wastes of ,africa1 and the elevated plateaux of ,north and ,south ,america4 ,among the ,rocky ,mountains they are of the most varied character1 and are spread over extensive areas in those sterile regions1 high up among the sources of the great ,american rivers4 ,wherever a stream falls into another stream1 a stream into a lake1 a lake into a river1 or a river into the sea1 bars1 gravelly shoals1 and deltas are found to exist1 or to be in the act of formation4 ,accumulations of this class1 therefore1 are to be regarded as of various periods1 as they are evidently the results of causes of continual operation1 ordinary as well as extraordinary4 ,many of such phenomena1 however1 are as clearly the indication of a state of things which no longer exists4 ,whether by a subsidence in the sea-bottom1 or an elevation of the land1 they are now raised far above the influence of the element within which they were collected1 and to whose abrading powers they owe their laminated structure4 ,such1 in particular1 are those regular-shaped terraces as well as detached hillocks of sand and gravel1 several hundred feet in depth1 so common in the straths of ,scotland and valleys of ,switzerland1 through which arms of the sea or of great inland lakes once penetrated1 and over whose shores and bottoms the debris of the mountains gradually accumulated4 8,the ,sea ,margins10 the work of the accomplished ,robert ,chambers1 contains a minute and interesting detail of these facts1 gleaned from varied sources of reading and most extensive personal observation1 and clearly warranting the inference that the sea at no very remote period covered vast districts of country from which it has now receded4 ,,the ,,bowlder ,,clay immediately underlies the gravelly beds which have been noticed4 ,betwixt the two classes of drift there is a clear line of demarkation1 although both sand and gravel are often in considerable masses included in the plastic mud which chiefly characterizes the bowlder clay4 ,this formation is of great extent1 covering the whole of the north of ,europe1 a large portion of northern ,asia1 and in ,america extending from the ,arctic ,sea to ,boston2 massed up in every ravine1 and ranging from the lowest valleys to two thousand feet on the mountain slopes1 where it is often accumulated to a great depth4 ,one striking peculiarity of the bowlder clay is1 that huge blocks of stones of all ages are imbedded in the mass in every region and country where it is found3 hence the name4 ,the bowlders are not always of local origin2 on the contrary1 the parent rock is more generally situated at remote distances1 even from five to eight hundred miles4 ,thus the ,scottish ,grampians furnish the greater proportion of the huge blocks which are scattered over the lowland and midland counties of ,scotland4 ,the ,lammermuirs1 the ,cheviots1 the ,lake ,mountains of ,cumberland1 have strewed their wreck over the vales of the ,tweed and ,northumberland1 through ,yorkshire and the midland plains of ,england4 ,the chalks of ,denmark and ,norway are spread out on every shoal and bank in the ,german ,ocean to the ,british shores2 while again1 through all ,friesland and central ,germany1 the primary rocks of ,scandinavia are as distinctly to be traced4 ,the erratic-block family have in like manner traveled over ,france1 those of ,britanny and ,normandy penetrating to the basin of the ,loire2 the ,cantal down even to the shores of the ,mediterranean4 ,switzerland1 perhaps1 contains the most interesting specimens of this universal drift-wreck2 as1 on the sides of the ,jura1 at an elevation of four thousand feet1 at ,monthey1 where they give a feature to the landscape1 and on the east bank of the lake of ,geneva1 lies the celebrated ,pierre de ,gout1 which figures in the ,huttonian controversy1 measuring about ten feet in height by fifteen to twenty in breadth and length4 ,mont ,blanc is conjectured to have been the source of most of these pierres rouls1 which have been transported across the valley of the ,rhone1 or lifted sheer over the mountains of ,savoy1 and are now at the distance of sixty and seventy miles1 lying in all the passes and ridges of the ,jura4 ,various explanations have been given of the origin and deposition of the bowlder-clay formation1 as well as of the erratic block-drift1 for the two can scarcely be separated in the question of cause and effect4 ,the bowlders1 for example1 are sometimes in the mass of clay itself1 sometimes they are lying loose on the surface1 in many instances they are spread over areas where no clay exists2 but in most cases maintaining their unmistakable character of being water-worn1 rounded1 and covered with stri4 ,both classes of phenomena1 therefore1 are supposed to be referable to the same period of time1 as they probably have originated in the same series of causes4 ,one theory advanced in explanation of both1 is the agency of powerful currents that swept over ,britain and the adjacent continents1 generally in a north and north-westerly direction1 bearing along with them soil1 gravel1 and the larger debris of rocks2 and as obstructions occurred1 or the violence of the currents subsided1 the heterogenous materials were deposited in the various countries and at the different elevations in which they are found4 ,the direction of the currents1 often from different centers1 is indicated clearly by the position and lithology of the mountains from which the blocks have been transported1 no less than by the fact that the greatest accumulations of drift and bowlders are to be observed at the south-eastern extremities of such gorges and valleys as were open to the diluvial action4 ,but the hypothesis fails in giving a satisfactory account of the transport of the larger blocks1 often of sixty to a hundred tons weight1 over a course of many hundreds of miles1 plunging through hollows1 and now stranded on mountain slopes several thousand feet above4 ,the theory of icebergs1 as the transporting agency1 meets this difficulty2 and accordingly1 in one form or other1 such a cause or agent1 of widely-prevailing influence1 is almost universally adopted into the creed of geologists4 ,this theory implies1 that those portions of ,europe now covered with the bowlder-clay formation were submerged after the deposition and consolidation of the tertiary strata--that this submergence was the result of a change in the earth's axis or some extraordinary alteration in its planetary relations--that a great arctic glacial continent subsided and disappeared beneath the waters--and that vast floating masses of ice1 inclosing rock loosened from the sinking land1 penetrated southward1 grazing and polishing the harder substances that lay in their course1 or carrying along with them the more yielding and transportable materials4 ,admit all or even a limited number of such assumptions1 and we know from what is occurring in recent times1 that the cause is quite adequate to the production of the effect4 ,sir ,james ,ross1 in his late humane exploratory expedition1 encountered in the polar regions icebergs from a hundred to three hundred feet in height1 and from a quarter to half a mile in length4 ,two-thirds of every iceberg float beneath the water4 ,what a carrier power1 at once for erosion and transport1 in every one of these frozen floating mountains6 ,the ,polar ocean still maintains its great southward current to the equatorial seas1 modified by the headlands and inequalities of bottom which occur in its progress2 and then1 as now1 the icebergs driven along this highway of waters would drop1 at intervals1 portions of their stony load1 to take up at other stations whatever was prepared to adhere to them4 ,hence the difficulty vanishes as to the large detached blocks so often found on the elevated sides of mountains4 ,hence1 too1 the explanation of those collected groups which are entirely free from any admixture of clay4 ,and hence1 upon the retreat of the waters and the elevation of the land1 it is reasonable to infer that many districts would be swept bare again of their mud1 while the bowlders would remain1 and that in other quarters ridges and the deeper accumulations would be formed4 8,both theories10 however1 as stated by ,mr4 ,page in his excellent treatise1 8,rudiments of ,geology10 8are beset with difficulties2 and though the latter accounts more satisfactorily for most of the phenomena of the erratic block group1 still there are many points respecting the distribution and extent of the deposit to be investigated before either can be finally adopted4 ,all that can be affirmed in the present state of the science is the composition and nature of the clay1 gravel1 and bowlders--the course of the currents concerned in their deposition--the fact of the land having a configuration of hill and valley1 not differing much from what now exists--and the peculiar scantiness1 if not total absence1 of organic remains40 ,whether this mysterious cataclysm occurred before or within the modern epoch is a question which1 as yet1 has not by any means been determined4 ,the few organic remains detected in the deposit are of marine origin--one or two species of shells--but all identical with species now existing4 ,the presumption is that the climate which prevailed over these northern regions during the period was extremely low4 ,but how long it lasted1 and why there are no types preserved1 in all that congeries of materials of the terrestrial fauna and flora of the period1 are points both of them of a very perplexing kind4 ,whether just dawning upon the advent of man1 or within the actual era of his history1 certain it is that these are the results of a chaotic condition over a large portion of our planet1 of which1 if we except the deluge1 we have no record nor memorials in any of the after changes and modifications of its surface4 ,shall we add1 as indicative of a ,,final ,,cause appearing in and overruling the tumultuous agitation1 that to this source is to be traced great part of the soil which covers the valleys and mountain sides of all the submerged districts8 that hereby extensive lakes were silted up1 the flinty rock concealed by fertile earth1 and the steep acclivity made accessible to the husbandman8 ,one thing is clear1 that all the latest tertiary strata in this alpine region have1 after their consolidation1 been disturbed and broken up3 it is upon their inverted edges that the superficial accumulations have been deposited and now rest3 and whether the submergence of ,europe1 and other parts of the globe1 was simultaneous or not with the cause of their movement and overthrow1 a superintending wisdom and purpose are unquestionably discernible in those accessions of soil and other economic arrangements that resulted from the change4 ,there is another theory1 however1 which has been applied to the explanation of these phenomena--namely1 the ,,theory ,,of ,,glaciers1 as illustrated in the works of ,venetz1 ,charpentier1 ,agassiz1 and ,forbes4 ,a glacier is a moving stream of ice formed in the transverse valleys and furrowed gorges of alpine chains4 ,they are of great depth and indefinite length2 and as they proceed slowly but progressively in their courses they carry along with them all the loose and prehensible mountain debris with which they come in contact4 ,on their surface they bear every falling splinter1 small and great1 from the overhanging rocks4 ,the sides and bottom of the ravines through which they pass are stripped1 polished1 and striated4 ,the avalanche breaks upon them with its accumulated load2 and every mountain rill1 upon the melting of the snows in summer1 deposits over their flanks the materials with which they are charged4 ,immense masses of matter are1 in these various ways1 collected and transported from the higher into the lower valleys3 these at the outgoing of the glacier generally assume a ridge shaped form1 and are termed moraines4 ,the underlying blocks are all rounded and grooved3 those borne on the surface are sharp and angular1 until they are swept away by the torrents into the rivers1 where they are in turn subjected to their smoothing operations4 ,there can be no doubt1 therefore1 either as to the disintegrating or transporting power of this mighty agent4 ,when ,i stood upon the ,mer de ,glace ,i saw before me1 in one gorge of the mountain1 a continuous stretch of icy machinery fourteen miles in length by two to three in breadth1 and several hundred feet in depth4 ,the whole was in motion2 and1 whether we adopt as the principle of translation the mechanical pressure of ,agassiz1 or the hydraulic law of ,forbes1 the instrument of an incalculable carriage-power was there4 ,and yet1 upon the first glance1 it shrank into a span1 or appeared but as a small lake1 as we viewed the glacier pouring down that deep gorge of ,mont ,blanc2 a sheer depth of dark perpendicular rocks rising on its edges many thousand feet in height2 several of the sharp-pointed ,aiguilles1 the ,grandes ,mullets1 and above all1 the ,peak de ,dru1 unrivaled in symmetrical grandeur1 penetrating still higher into the clear sky above4 ,how many such glaciers are dispersed through that vast alpine chain2 and how immense1 upon any rule of calculation1 have been the earthy and rocky materials which they have borne downward in the lapse of time6 ,familiarized to such gigantic operations among his native ,alps1 ,m4 ,agassiz came to the conclusion that not only the bowlder drift of ,switzerland1 but nearly all the superficial accumulations of northern ,europe1 were to be ascribed to glacial action4 ,in the straths and glens of ,scotland he fancied a moraine in every talus of a mountain1 and in every bar of a river4 ,he saw the polishing of glaciers in the pass of ,killiecrankie1 on the sides of ,ben ,nevis1 and the steep promontories of ,morven4 ,the parallel roads of ,glenroy originated in the same cause4 ,from the ,mediterranean to the ,arctic zone a polar climate universally prevailed1 and the whole was covered with a mantle of ice2 vast fields of ice1 too1 depending from the mountains penetrated into the adjacent valleys2 the plains in succession were invaded1 and erratic blocks were scattered in every direction2 when at last1 upon a change of temperature consequent upon other changes in the planetary relations of the earth1 all these erosive influences were for a time increased1 and the glacial power attained its maximum4 ,not only the upper and transverse furrows in the ,alps but all the lower and great longitudinal valleys of the ,cantons were the seats of glaciers during this period4 ,along the passes of the ,rhine1 the ,rhone1 the ,drance1 the ,doire1 the ,arve1 and the ,isre1 the irrepressible tide of ice maintained its course1 leaving portions of the drift at different elevations1 and dropping bowlders on the intermediate hills and on the more distant and loftier barriers of the ,jura4 ,sir ,r4 ,murchison opposes all these speculations of ,agassiz and others4 ,the elevation of the alpine chain1 of which there is abundant evidence in comparatively recent times1 he regards as cotemporaneous with the translation of the bowlder-drift1 and considers that during the sub-aqueous condition of northern ,europe1 the ,alps and the ,jura were from two to three thousand feet below their present altitude4 ,he finds that the famous blocks of ,monthey opposite ,bex are composed exclusively of the granite of ,mont ,blanc--that they have been transported on ice-rafts through the gorge of ,st4 ,maurice to their present locality--and reasons with justice that had they formed part of a moraine the debris of all the intervening rocks1 along the valley through which the glacier passed1 must have been associated with them4 ,none of the glaciers of the ,alps1 he thinks1 could have been of the extent implied in the transport through their agency of the ,jura blocks1 nor have ever the upper longitudinal and flanking valleys around ,mont ,blanc been filled with general ice-streams4 ,the materials1 likewise1 of true glacier moraines he conceives can be readily distinguished1 on the one hand1 from the more ancient alluvia1 and1 on the other1 from tumultuous accumulations of gravel bowlders and far-transported erratic blocks4 ,and1 looking at the various causes which have affected the surface1 ,sir ,roderick concludes1 that all the chief difficulties of the bowlder-clay formation are removed1 when it is admitted that frequent and vast changes of the land and waters have taken place since the distribution of large erratics--that a great northern glacial continent has subsided--that the bottom of the sea over ,britain and the adjacent continent has been raised into dry land1 while the ,alps and ,jura1 formerly at lower levels1 have been considerably and irregularly elevated4 ,the elevation of this stupendous chain of rocks1 not by one but by a succession of upheavals and depressions ere they assumed their present position and grouping1 is a point generally admitted1 and not difficult to demonstrate4 ,the ,alps1 for example1 are folded all round with successive belts or zones of sedimentary matter1 marking1 as so many milestones at different points of altitude1 the measure of increment attained during the intervals of their deposition4 ,these belts contain each their own peculiar class of fossils which determine their relative ages4 ,in succession1 the several suites or families of rocks rest upon the inverted outcrop or inclined edges of the older groups4 ,thus the history of organic life upon the globe1 the incoming of new races and the extinction of old ones1 as contained in these deposits1 becomes a scale of measurement of the elevations1 disruptions1 and ever-varying conditions of the inorganic crust1 while in the inverted1 dislocated state of the crust itself1 we mark the several throes by which it was lifted above the waters4 ,not one of the fossiliferous beds enveloping the granitic and crystalline nucleus of the chain of the ,alps but has been shifted out of its original horizontal position1 and the shift of the subjacent having always preceded the deposition of the overlying formation1 it follows that1 in addition to the intumescence of the chain1 there must have been a series of oscillatory and elevatory movements before attaining its final altitude4 ,but after the consolidation of the whole rocky strata1 and while the waters were still many thousands of feet in depth1 the superficial accumulations were being deposited--the bowlder drift1 and erratic blocks1 either by icebergs or other causes1 were floated into position--and it was not until every one of these traveled stones1 fresh even now as when torn from the living rock1 were quietly settled down into the bottom of the sea1 that ,mont ,blanc had displayed a moiety of its massive outline1 or towered to one-half of its present colossal grandeur4 ,the elevation of ,ben-,mac-,dhui dates from the era of the old red sandstone formation4 ,mont ,blanc was invaded on all sides by a sea that received the latest of the tertiary deposits4 ,both were submerged during the cataclysm which produced the bowlder clay2 but as no increment to its bulk was derived from this cause1 ,ben-,mac-,dhui falls geologically to be reckoned a completed1 and therefore a far older1 mountain than ,mont ,blanc1 which had not attained its full altitude and bulk until the expiration of the ,pleiocene age6 ,such are the mighty agencies contemplated by the geologist in the various later changes which have affected the surface of our globe4 ,the rill1 the river1 the torrent1 the glacier1 the earthquake1 the volcano1 are still in operation1 but only as faint images of the enormous powers which in the more ancient times have been at work4 ,that the earth has been repeatedly encroached upon by the waters every principle of his science goes to establish2 but out of every convulsion he sees a better and more stable condition of things to have emerged4 ,if the bowlder drift and the cold plastic clay formation point to a continuance of sunless1 lifeless seasons1 he forgets not1 as the products of the period1 that two-thirds of the soil of ,great ,britain and of the grain-bearing lands of the continent1 have been derived from these accumulations--the industrial monuments of their invasion in every quarter of the world4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,thickness ,,of ,,the ,,earth',s ,,crust--,,central ,,heat4 ,the question arises1 since upon geological grounds it is demonstrable that the crust of the earth has been repeatedly upheaved and broken1 have we reason to conclude that similar states of paroxysm and convulsion may not again return8 ,this brings us to the consideration of two very interesting problems1 namely1--,,the ,,thickness ,,of ,,the ,,earth',s ,,crust--,and ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,central ,,heat4 ,have we any means of determining either of these points8 ,the doctrine of the igneous origin of granite and other rocks proceeds upon the assumption of a vast reservoir of heat existing somewhere within the interior2 and the question to be solved is--,what is the thickness of the solid crust beneath which the molten rocks have their origin8 and what the cause of their fusion8 ,i4 ,an opinion has long prevailed among geologists of a certain school1 that the crust of the earth is of very limited dimensions4 ,a thin coating of primary crystalline rock is interposed betwixt the sedimentary strata above1 and the intensely incandescent mass of which the interior is composed4 ,the experiments of ,fourier establish a formula of increasing temperature of the strata in a descending series1 and from the rate of this increase1 it is inferred1 that about one hundred miles below the surface the entire nucleus is in a state of complete fusion4 ,some have even assumed the melting point to be less than thirty miles1 when 8the next contiguous matter is in a state of fusion1 at a temperature probably higher than any that man can produce by artificial means1 or any natural heat that can exist on the surface40#aa ,sir ,john ,leslie attempted a demonstration of the ultimate resolution of the materials into light1 as the only element capable of resisting the vast pressure of the outer crust2 and1 erroneously assuming the modulus of compressibility of air1 water1 the metals1 and all known earthy substances to be invariable1 however greatly the pressure may be increased1 this ingenious philosopher came to the conclusion1 that1 instead of ,tartarean darkness1 the offspring of superstition1 the inner chambers of the earth are filled with luminous ether1 the most pure1 concentrated1 and resplendent4 ,darwin believes that much of the vast continent of ,south ,america is suspended over an inner sea of liquid fire1 and says1 that1 8daily it is forced home on the mind of the geologist1 that nothing1 not even the wind that blows1 is so unstable as the level of the crust of the earth40 ,with the fires of ,etna and ,vesuvius raging on the one side1 and the recent though extinct volcanoes of ,auvergne and the ,cantal seated so near on the other side1 what security is there1 amidst so many undoubted facts of the mobility of the land1 that these vast piles of ,alpine mountains may not again1 through mere mechanical weight1 break through the film of crust on which they rest1 and sink into the abyss from which they so lately emerged6 ,the doctrine of central heat1 it may be replied1 does not necessarily imply the universal fluidity of the central mass1 an opinion supported by ,lyell1 ,poisson1 and other eminent philosophers2 while there is reason to infer1 as repeatedly stated1 that there is no identity of scale and mechanism between volcanoes now active1 and the igneous causes which gave birth to these and other stupendous mountain-chains4 ,but astronomy gives a different and more comfortable solution of the problem4 ,the influence of the moon alone1 it would appear1 acting upon our planet1 requires a thickness of crust of at least ,,one ,,thousand ,,miles1 to prevent the fabric of the globe from being severed into fragments4 ,the earth1 considered in connection with its own planetary system1 has three distinct motions in space1 a fact in science usually illustrated by the movements of the common spinning-top4 ,a more striking illustration may be seen in the steam-vapor which has aided you onward1 that living cloud of light and heat which towers and floats away in these beautifully curling wreaths4 ,like the trail of the comet1 how gracefully it sweeps over the plains in its forward movement3 then it turns to the right or left in the direction of the wind3 and then1 in a third convolution1 every globule of the airy mass is twirling on an axis of its own4 ,equally buoyant is the earth1 hung upon nothing1 and cleaving the liquid firmament4 ,it turns on its axis1 causing the vicissitude of day and night2 it moves through its orbit1 making the circuit of the sun and the diversity of the seasons2 and1 in addition1 there is an oscillatory motion like the unsteady zig-zag twistings of the carriage-train1 occasioned by the excess of the equatorial over the polar diameter4 ,this excess amounts to about a three-hundredth part4 ,but1 small as it is1 it exerts an assignable influence over the cohesion or attraction of the solid framework4 ,now1 by a nice mathematical demonstration1 resting on the sun and moon's attraction1 ,mr4 ,hopkins infers1 as indicated by the phenomena of precession and nutation1 that the minimum thickness of the earth's crust cannot be less than one-fourth or one-fifth of the earth's radius4 ,the theorem is of too abstract a nature to be here introduced2 but it appears from it that the observed amount of precession requires this degree of solid matter1 which gives a clear depth of solid arch over either vacuum1 resplendent light1 or fiery fluid1 of from eight hundred to a thousand miles4 ,this may well allay the fears of the most timid as to the stability of the ground beneath his feet1 whatever be the state of the interior1 or under whatever modifications the materials therein may exist4 ,,ii4 ,but if this thickness of crust is required now1 it must have been equally required in all past time3 hence1 it may be argued1 no security is thereby afforded against the bursting out of the pent-up fires1 or disruption of the outer crust8 ,now1 it has been questioned whether there be such a thing as a ,,central fluid heat at all1 while the solidity of the earth throughout has been maintained as more in unison with the principles of established science4 ,the doctrine of a central heat is as old as the days of ,bishop ,burnet1 who imagined that the internal fire1 pre-existent in the bowels of the earth1 was the agent employed in breaking up the fountains of the deep for the production of the deluge4 ,leibnitz and ,buffon regarded the earth as an extinguished sun or vitrified globe1 which1 according to the calculations of the latter1 required seventy-five thousand years to cool down to its present temperature2 and that1 in ninety-eight thousand years more1 the heat will be utterly exhausted1 and productive nature extinguished4 ,whiston fancied that the earth was created from the atmosphere of one blazing comet1 and deluged by the humid tail of another4 ,and ,whitehurst1 one of the oldest of modern geologists1 regarded all the strata of every formation1 as concentrically arranged over the surface of the globe1 and then employed the expansive agency of internal fire to account for their upheaved disrupted condition4 ,these cosmogonies1 it is needless to remark1 all now rank with the speculations of the alchemists1 and that ,behmen and their authors are considered as of equal authority in the sciences of chemistry and geology4 ,the searching tests of experiment1 as already noticed1 have been brought to illustrate the subject of internal heat1 but the results have not been decisive1 nor very satisfactory4 ,it has been stated1 as a general rule in the mines examined1 that1 in proportion to their depth1 the heat increases as we descend2 and the mean result of all the best observations1 as given by ,cordier1 amounts to one degree of heat for every forty-five feet of depth4 ,different mines1 however1 it has been ascertained1 vary in their degrees of downward temperature2 as in the ,durham and ,newcastle coal-pits1 the increase is estimated at one degree for every forty-four feet1--in the ,cornwall iron-mines at one in seventy-five feet1--and in ,saxony some of the mines give an increase of only one degree in one hundred and eighty or one hundred and ninety feet of perpendicular descent4 ,much of this difference may1 indeed1 be readily accounted for by the nature of the contents of the mines themselves1 their position in the system1 and the quality of the rocks among which they are situated4 ,but a difficulty will remain1 how to dispose of the increasing ratio of temperature1 and the changes that must necessarily result from it in the bowels of the earth4 ,thus1 assuming it to be a uniformly increasing ratio in proportion to the depth1 it will follow from this law of increase that we reach a point1 about twenty-four miles down1 hot enough to melt iron3 at double that distance1 such a heat as will fuse every substance with which we are acquainted3 and at a hundred miles1 that a temperature will exist1 of whose resolving powers we have no experience1 and cannot even conjecture4 ,the astronomical theory of a thousand miles of crust melts into airy nothing in its presence1 and the formula of ,fourier1 before it has reached the required hundred1 will have found a nucleus in complete fusion1 acting intensely upon the thin external crust1 and seeking through every crevice of these 8flagrantia mnia mundi10 to issue forth in torrents of fire4 ,it has been farther objected to a central fluidity1 that such a fluid must be in constant circulation by the cooling of its exterior--a fact ascertained in the case of all fused metals4 ,tides too1 it has been argued1 would be produced in the fluid matter1 however deeply seated1 through the influence of the sun and moon1 and which tides would necessarily occasion such oscillatory and expansive movements as astronomy has neither noticed nor accounted for4 ,again1 the supposition of a central heat of the earth1 prevailing from the beginning and through all the phases of its history1 implies that its cooling is still going on2 and that1 in consequence1 a contraction in the mass or bulk of the earth will follow the law observed by all other bodies in parting with their heat4 ,hence this contraction might lead to the shortening of the day and other mechanical results4 ,but ,laplace satisfied himself1 by reference to ancient astronomical records1 that there had been no alteration in the length of the day1 even to the smallest calculable degree or point of a second2 and that thence1 the hypothesis of a fluid1 or even primitive heat of the earth1 had here no confirmation4 ,an objection to the theory has likewise been urged1 from the well-known property and tendency of heat to become equally diffused through all the particles of any body in which it exists4 ,thus1 it is an established principle1 that heat not only diffuses itself on all sides1 but passes continually from bodies in which the temperature is greater to those in which it is less2 and that if a body be placed in a medium having a temperature different from its own1 the momentary variations of its temperature will be as the differences between the temperature of the body and of the medium4 ,hence1 when the heat beneath the surface of the earth1 at whatever depth1 becomes of sufficient intensity to melt iron1 it cannot pass beyond this until the whole surrounding mass is heated to the same degree of intensity4 ,the law of increment and transmission of caloric1 it is argued1 must be the same below as above2 and1 assuming the nucleus of the earth to be fluid1 no solid crust could thus be formed upon the surface until every particle of the heated fluid mass was cooled down to the point of consolidation4 ,this principle is well understood in the formation of a crust of ice upon water4 ,if extendible to other bodies1 and to subterranean distances1 then the simple fact of an existing outer crust1 solid and cooled down to the existing temperature1 militates against the probability of a central fire1 and is utterly repugnant to the hypothesis of a liquid central mass4 ,it is maintained1 however1 on the other hand1 that the central caloric1 however intense at any depth1 has long ago arrived at the point at which the conducting power of the rocky crust has either entirely ceased or permits no further sensible decrease2 that this point was reached some time before the creation of man1 when the process of cooling had acquired a maximum or stationary condition1 and that it formed a part of the processes by which the earth was adapted to its high destination among the works of ,god4 ,but may not the adaptation have been effected by the gradual conduction of the heat outwardly1 not by suffering it to remain and glow in opposition to its known properties in the inner regions8 ,it may be maintained as a safe principle in physical science1 that if there be heat in the center of the globe1 it must have the properties of heat and none other4 ,no geologist hesitates to admit1 upon evidence amounting to demonstration1 that a vast source of heat exists in the interior of the earth1 widely spread beneath the stony pavement1 and that it has existed at all times4 ,but whether that heat is local or generally diffused--whether it is central or infra-superficial--whether it is constantly maintained1 or is excited at intervals by certain combinations--are questions as yet of mere speculation1 and for the solution of which we have no data to lead us1 beyond probable inferences4 ,upon the whole1 as the known density of the earth is considerably greater than that of a solid sphere1 composed of any such rocks as we are acquainted with1 the presumption is1 that heavier materials1 in an increasing ratio1 than any constituting the superficial crust1 enter into the composition and structure of the central parts4 ,all the great mountain systems in the different zones of the globe are the product of palozoic times4 ,the fires which cast them out have gradually diminished by every succeeding effort4 ,a steadier equilibrium betwixt the conflicting elements of the upper and the lower world1 appears to have taken place--once only disturbed1 at the deluge1 since man's occupation--and for the repetition of which there exists no preparation in the established course of nature4 ,the very convulsions which have shattered the earth to its foundations1 while they are evidences of benevolent wisdom1 furnish1 at the same time1 the best guarantee against blind fortuitous derangements to come2 the result1 as they are1 of periodical causes1 acting in a way and with an intensity of which we have no experience1 and for which1 indeed1 we have no expression in any of the sciences4 ,,general ,,principles4 ,,part ,,iv4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,r,,sum4 ,geology1 as will be seen from the preceding details1 is among the most comprehensive of the sciences4 ,it invades the province of every one of them1 and lays them all under contribution while following out its own peculiar researches4 ,a dry description of rocks1 in their simple mineral qualities1 does not limit or exhaust its ample resources4 ,botany1 zoology1 meteorology--a part1 in short1 of every branch of natural history1 as well as chemistry1 physics1 and astronomy1 are severally enlisted in its service1 and all give interest and importance to its discursive investigations4 ,and thus1 receiving gifts from every walk of science1 geology gives back in turn1 and imparts to each1 illustrations new and rare1 from its own wonderful storehouse4 ,geology1 considered in itself1 may be pursued in three different ways1 as it resolves into three great leading branches of investigation4 ,observing the arrangement and superposition of rocks1 as exhibited in the crust of the earth1 along with their mineral distinctions and fossil contents1 we embrace all the objects included in descriptive or phenomenal geology4 ,the exposition1 again1 of the general principles by which such phenomena can be produced1 constitutes what has been termed geological dynamics1--by which are traced the laws of action of known causes1 and their relation to such changes as those which geology considers4 ,the last branch leads to a consideration of the causes in which the phenomena have originated and the doctrines deducible from them4 ,this has been called physical geology1 and embraces all that is theoretic in the science4 ,these three branches1 while thus definitively distinct in themselves1 are yet frequently combined in the works of writers on the subject2 nor is it easy1 or even possible1 in practice1 to separate them1 as few will be content to describe without attempting also to explain4 ,it has been no part of our vocation in these investigations to inquire into the origin of a material universe2--what was its pre-existent state1 and by what process this globe at first was brought into an earthy concrete form4 ,astronomy has tried various solutions4 ,but whether by the splintering of other worlds1 or the evolution of matter from a ,saturnian ring1 or by the condensation of gaseous star-dust diffused through infinite space1 no astronomical hypothesis has proved satisfactory4 ,geology is better employed when she assumes a beginning to her researches upon the visible crust of the globe4 ,the mystery of creation is not within the range of her legitimate territory2 and1 while the investigation of laws and of the influence of secondary causes falls within the province of both1 it may be safely admitted that neither astronomy nor geology are1 of themselves1 capable of giving us any real or precise account of the origin of the universe1 or of any of its parts4 ,that we have begun with the primary rocks of the ,grampians1 as the most ancient division of systematic lithology1 was more with a view to have some #8principia' for description than assumptions for theory1 and because no geological research has penetrated deeper4 ,the crust of the earth1 as far as observation extends1 is proved to consist in its lower parts of a series of crystalline rocks1 some of which are stratified1 and others unstratified1 intercalating one with another1 and maintaining the same relative position1 each to each1 as a system1 in every region of the globe4 ,granite1 gneiss1 micha-schist1 quartz-rock1 and limestone1 constitute these first outwork courses of creation2 one uniform cause acting simultaneously over the earth1 appears to have placed them all in position2 and as no breathing animal or blossoming plant witnessed this morn-dawn of nature1 the rocks belonging to the period are termed the primary or azoic series4 ,the fossiliferous deposits follow in their due order of superposition1 arranged into groups and systems according to the organic remains by which they are respectively characterized1 and preserving1 in their geographical distribution1 the same uniform and persistent vertical arrangement as the former4 ,amorphous rocks1 of all ages and extent1 are distributed among the stratified portions of the crust1 whether crystalline or sedimentary1 whereby the latter are dislocated and upheaved1 and the inequalities of the surface1 and all the pleasing diversity of plain1 hill1 and mountain have been produced4 ,it is the special object of descriptive or phenomenal geology to note all the facts connected with these appearances and changes1 to collate and compare them one with another1 and finally1 to systematize them according to their natural affinities and relations4 ,dynamical and theoretical geology1 again1 inquires into the supposed principles and causes in which all these arrangements have originated1 and by which they have been modified4 ,the agencies1 processes1 and changes which we now observe in the existing course of nature1 furnish the grounds and analogies by which alone we can speculate respecting the past condition of things1 subject always to the consideration that1 in proportion to the difference of effects and changes in the two periods1 so are the causes and agencies which produced them1 as well in relation to time as to force4 ,the enormous magnitude of the results witnessed during the more ancient geological epochs1 demonstrates the intensity of the causes then in operation2 and1 admitting these causes to be the same in kind with such as prevail at present1 we are yet warranted to infer their more violent activity1 as likewise to assume a more rapid increment in their effects4 ,thus the geologist1 from observation of the laws of crystallization now manifested in the aggregation of the elementary particles of bodies1 reverts to the existence of similar forces1 whatever they be1 which produced the crystalline texture of the primary rocks1 their fissile structure1 and the separation of all those materials which exist among them in the form of gems1 agates and metalliferous veins4 ,igneous causes he still finds in operation1 as volcanoes1 earthquakes1 and chemical agencies closely connected with both2 and the same forces he hesitates not to connect with the elevation of mountain-chains1 the vast masses of plutonic matter everywhere diffused through the earth's crust1 and the disturbance1 dislocation1 and other changes produced upon all the stratified rocks through which this matter has penetrated4 ,a mighty power in continual action1 he further perceives in the waters of the ocean1 of the atmosphere1 of the rills and rivers that issue from the mountains' side3 and to such aqueous causes1 operative in the past as in the present day1 he refers the transport1 lamination1 and detrital structure of the materials of all the sedimentary deposits4 ,nor does he leave out of estimation the effect of assumed cosmical changes upon the temperature of the planet1 and the laws that regulate the distribution of heat over the surface3 causes such as these the geologist sees greatly to influence1 at present1 the conditions of organic life in every quarter of the globe2 and hence1 he justly calls for their assistance in explaining the history of those remarkable organic remains which characterize the several geological epochs4 ,when the geologist proceeds systematically to trace the series of these phenomena1 to ascertain their causes1 and to connect together all the indications of change that are found in the organic and inorganic kingdoms of nature1 he attempts the structure of a ,,theory ,,of ,,creation1 which shall embrace the whole course of the world1 from the earliest to the present times2 and which1 it may reasonably be concluded1 may be resolved into one great cycle1 yet unfinished4 ,but for this the materials of the science are by no means prepared1 nor is its progress sufficiently advanced4 ,the history of organic remains forms an interesting branch of descriptive geology1 where1 it may be said1 we find the medal-stamps of creation in the first forms of organic life that came from the hands of the ,creator4 ,the fact is all important1 and the science is prepared to announce it1 that in the lowest fossiliferous strata of the earth1 ,,vegetables appear among the first of all living things3 the impressions of plants1 and entire beds of carbonaceous matter1 are found in the most ancient strata of the ,silurian group of rocks4 ,nor less important is the fact1 that the fossils which next arrest the attention are the remains of marine animals1 myriads of shells1 and vast numbers of fishes4 ,then1 in the ascending series of strata1 the foot-prints of birds are lower down than the impressions of the beasts of the earth4 ,the sea1 it is next discovered1 swarmed with huge reptilian bodies1 before mammalian quadrupeds and cattle had yet a place on dry land2 and man1 the noblest specimen of organic structure1 the crowning apex of the pyramid of terrestrial being1 is1 according to the geological narrative1 precisely in his place--no bone nor fragment of his kind1 having been detected in the solid frame of the globe4 ,such is the vista into the past opened up through these rocky entablatures of the globe4 ,compared with other branches of knowledge1 in point of mere exciting topics of interest1 geology occupies a distinguished position4 ,nay1 the truth here1 to those not conversant with the science1 is even more incredible than fiction4 ,as a study into the records of creation1 geology has disclosed views1 and elicited discoveries1 of the works of the ,divine ,architect of the world1 which the religious inquirer will as cordially embrace1 as ignorance only can overlook or misapprehend4--,newton imagined1 so porous is all earthy matter1 that this terrene globe could be crushed into the size of two or three cubic inches of solid substance4 ,geology now shows that the most concrete rocks1 chains of hills and even of mountains1 the soft clays of ,virginia1 and loose floating deserts of sand1 are many of them composed of the shields and skeletons of animalcules2 evidences1 through all past time1 of the wondrous prodigality of nature1 and of the superabundant goodness of its ,author4 ,nothing1 indeed1 at first sight can appear more barren of every point of interesting illustration than the rocky masses of the earth4 ,tear off the grassy covering which conceals1 while it freshens1 the outer crust of the globe1 and to mere disorder and confusion there seems to be superadded the more repulsive features of sterility and death4 ,but examine a little deeper1 and you will see order1 symmetry1 and beauty2 what is now frigid and motionless1 was once animated with the breath of life2 these stony chambers beneath1 the necropolis of a buried world4 ,the study of the ,course of ,creation1 therefore1 when read aright--whether in its organic or inorganic lessons--cannot fail to present the most varied and sublime illustrations of the power1 wisdom1 and goodness of ,him who reared the stupendous fabric1 and made our earth one of the bright rolling planets of the universe4 ,there are many points1 however1 and questions of the deepest importance1 that are far from being satisfactorily determined4--,the progress of vegetable and animal life1 for example1 is supposed to correspond with the varying conditions and changes of the earth's surface1 when the races are summoned into existence1 not at once1 nor after short intervals1 but successively1 and after ages of unfathomable extent4 ,the record1 even as a chronicle of mere life and death1 is a marvelous one1 full of singular revelations1 and disclosing types of organized being that have long been obliterated4 ,but when as yet there was no rational head in this mundane scene1 the assumption is1 that the inferior tribes were for ,,millions of years the sole living occupants of the planet6 ,can all the data be sound1 rightly understood1 and properly interpreted1 that lead to such conclusions8 ,the epic of this lengthened series of events is yet1 it may be said1 without a hero4 ,the tragedy of wild revolution and carnage lacks romance in the very monotony of its devastation4 ,and destitute alike of a moral1 and of a fitting audience1 the brilliancy of the representation loses half its attractions in losing all its humanity4 ,one established principle of the science connected with this point is1 that there are certain groups of animal species found fossil in the different sets of strata which compose the earth's crust1 and that these demonstrate something like a series of distinct faunas corresponding to the number of formations4 ,seven or eight sets of rocks1 at least1 are as distinctly characterized by particular sets of fossils4 ,but the exceptions to the law are likewise very numerous1 inasmuch as both species and genera have been carried forward1 and are identically the same1 from one formation and epoch into another4 ,hence1 points neither of difference nor of resemblance1 from age to age1 are absolute1 and cannot very minutely be applied as regards the several formations and their organic contents4 ,the types of one formation are repeatedly mingled with those of another4 ,and the value of all the evidence collected from fossil remains1 while it establishes undeniably a succession in the mineral deposits1 leaves the question as to the limits of the epochs1 and their relation to ,time1 still partially undetermined4 ,the theory too of progressive development1 or that of independent acts of creation--the causes of the extinction of old1 and the introduction of new races--the extent of time implied or indicated in the whole series of events--and the all-important point involved in this chronology1 whether all or any of the geological series are alluded to in the ,mosaic account of creation--are questions that necessarily press upon the attention1 as we would solve or not the inquiries suggested4 ,the sounding-line of geology is not to be despised1 or cast at once aside1 should it fail in furnishing a just estimate and measure of such profound investigations4 ,every failure will only prove a stimulus to renewed exertion1 as every discovered path of error leads one step in advance toward the path of truth1 and that in turn to harmony with the ,book of ,,all ,,truth4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,theories ,,of ,,organic ,,life4 ,after inquiring into their order of succession1 the relation which organic fossils have to each other1 as genera and species1 falls naturally to be considered4 ,how have these various families of creatures1 brought to light by geology1 been formed8 ,in what manner have they become extinct8 ,have they all proceeded from a few original types1 which have been modified by circumstances1 increased in variety1 and perfected in form1 as they advance from the older to the newer formations8 ,and does geology furnish any data on which to build a theory of their extinction as the higher and succeeding kinds emerged into being8 ,a learned author1 ,professor ,pictet of ,geneva1 has spoken of these speculations in terms of a rule or law1 as follows3--8,the faunas of the most ancient formations are made up of the less perfectly organized animals1 and the degree of perfection increases as we approach the more recent epochs40 ,this was long held as a favorite dogma among geologists1 when1 in proportion to the scantiness of facts1 there was an increasing eagerness to magnify their value1 and to build upon them the widest generalizations4 ,but now1 since accurate observations are more and more multiplied1 and the principles of palontology are better understood1 the doctrine of a gradual advance of animal organization toward higher and more perfect forms as we ascend through the successive deposits of the earth's crust1 is daily losing ground among the cultivators of the science4 ,the notion is based upon the theory of a scale of beings1 in which all animals are supposed to form a series1 or to constitute links of an unbroken chain1 whereof each species is more perfect than that which precedes it1 and the varying degrees of perfection constantly increasing until they reach their maximum in man1 the highest link in the chain4 ,m4 ,pictet himself regards this theory as vague and unsupported by facts1 as well in the organization of the extinct as of the existing races of animals4 ,these beings1 he says1 are divided into a certain number of groups1 each of which exhibits a peculiar type2 but while some of the groups are manifestly superior to others when we consider their organization generally1 it happens also that the result of a comparison sometimes fails to establish any real superiority4 ,the faunas of the more ancient formations he holds to be far less imperfect than has been often supposed1 where the vertebrate type is represented by the fishes1 and whose structure is as complicated and finished as the most recent of their kind2 while the invertebrate again furnishes numerous examples of fossilized gasteropoda and cephalopoda1 the most perfect orders of the molluscous class4 ,as with these1 so with the relics of every succeeding epoch1 in which all the types1 the genera1 and species of every family of the animal kingdom1 are represented by organic structures as perfect as those of the present day4 ,we quote the following important cautionary remark by the same author3--8,we ought not10 says ,professor ,pictet1 8to be too hasty in assuming the absence of certain more perfect types in the older faunas1 merely because we have not yet discovered any remains of them4 ,we hardly know anything of these faunas1 except with regard to some of the inhabitants of the sea2 and it is well known1 that in the present condition of the globe1 those animals living on land exhibit the higher forms of structure4 ,is it not possible that in these first ages of the world1 terrestrial animals also existed1 more highly organized than their marine cotemporaries1 although their remains either have not been preserved1 or are still to be discovered8 ,the existence of didelphine mammals in the oolites has been made out by the discovery of a very small number of fragments2 and the remains of land animals generally are hardly fossilized1 except by sudden deluges and inundations1 which are always trifling in their results1 compared with the slow but unceasing deposits from the water of the sea4 ,may we not yet expect new discoveries in these ancient strata1 revealing to us the existence of primeval animals at present little suspected80 ,the same mode of reasoning may be extended to the ancient floras1 or terrestrial plants of the primeval ages4 ,what a revelation1 for instance1 is made in the recently discovered coal deposits of ,oporto and the ,upper ,douro1 where1 along with the orthides1 trilobites1 and graptolites of the lower silurian rocks1 are found vegetable impressions strongly resembling the ferns of the carboniferous age8 ,the ,cromarty fossil pine1 from the lower old red sandstone1 has been already noticed4 ,while these pages have been passing through the press we have to record the discovery of a specimen1 nearly two feet in length and half a foot in thickness1 from the beds of the middle old red and immediately underlying the yellow sandstone of ,dura ,den4 ,this fossil is considerably flattened and furred with the scars or markings so characteristic of the decorticated trees belonging to the coal formation4 ,does not this warrant the expectation of a richer harvest to be yet gleaned in these ancient fields than the marine fuci and alg that have hitherto been mainly gathered in by the geological sickle8 ,another mode of accounting for the succession of organized beings on the surface of the globe1 and consequently also their successive extinction and outgoing1 as seen in the fossiliferous rocks1 is that which is termed ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,development1 or the doctrine of the transmutation of species4 ,the same has been a very ancient and favorite notion among mankind4 ,early in this century it assumed the form of a system1 under the adaptive principle of ,lamarck1 who conceived that animals1 according to the circumstances in which they are placed1 by the use or disuse of certain organs1 the frequency and degree of exertion or strain upon particular parts of the body1 were themselves the agents in inducing all the variety of structures by which they are distinguished into so many orders and families4 ,the aquatic fowl1 for example1 is attracted to the waters in quest of food1 and so in time becomes web-footed4 ,the heron dislikes to plunge into the flood1 or will only venture into the shoals1 and hence he becomes a wader1 and is equipped with long legs4 ,the woodpecker rejoices in those little aphides and creatures that nestle under the bark of trees1 and thus1 from constant exercise1 acquires his strength of bill4 ,the eagle seeks the blaze of the sun1 and soars to the gates of heaven1 and hence his penetrating eye and speed of descent upon his all-unconscious victim beneath4 ,and1 in like manner1 through the whole range of animated nature1 and in all past ages1 genera and species have all acquired their adaptive powers1 and distinctive forms of organization1 arising from a certain plastic character in their different constitutions1 and their own voluntary attempts to supply their constantly increasing wants4 ,there were a few great leading stamps or dies of nature's own molding2 but all the rest--even man himself--are merely offsets from the primitive type1 with such extension of organs and modification of excrescences as were required in each particular case2 succeeding races always retaining a strong affinity to their immediate predecessors1 and a tendency to impress their own features on their kindred which succeed them4 ,there is a limit of divergence2 but within that limit1 the human family have their place assigned them among the monkeys and wild men of the woods4 ,it is the same extravagant idea1 that of a constant progression toward animal perfection1 which has become so popularized in 8,the ,vestiges of the ,natural ,history of ,creation40 ,this author1 indeed1 has taken a wider and bolder flight than even the ,french philosopher1 ,m4 ,lamarck4 ,he brings the rudimentary elements and molecular forms of all creation before him4 ,he expatiates through infinite space1 and amidst the original fire-mist of the astral worlds4 ,he finds but one grand law pervading the whole universe of being1 operating in the self-same way in the production of planets and suns1 as in the germination of insects and animalcules1 the life-impregnating principle in the one being only a modification of the aggregating and rotary tendencies that rule in the other--the blind and casual evolution of some agency of a material system1 substituted for the creative will of an intelligent ever-active ,first ,cause4 8,a nucleated vesicle0 is the fundamental form of all organization1 as nuclei of luminous matter are the sources of the stars2 this is the meeting point between the organic and the inorganic1 the end of the mineral and beginning of the vegetable and animal kingdoms2 whence they start in different directions1 but in a general parallelism and analogy4 ,assuming the vast indefinite periods of the geological epochs to be correct1 the author makes great account of time1 and the mighty changes which will be produced in the lapse of countless ages1 and thus rebuts the argument against his theory that is so obviously furnished from the fixed unaltered characters of organization that have prevailed throughout the entire modern epoch4 ,this he argues is merely a point1 an infinitesimal fraction1 when compared with the epochs of geology4 ,the eye detects not the changes which all specific forms are slowly but unceasingly undergoing within limited portions of time1 even as the nicest instruments cannot always enable the astronomer to note the changes of position among the heavenly bodies4 ,hence the appearance of so many of the stars as unchangingly fixed in their relations to each other4 ,the whole solar system1 too1 upon the ground of imperfect unrecording vision1 seems to be anchored in one portion of space4 ,and hence likewise the argument against the motion of the earth itself1 which so long prevailed1 derived from the fact of there being no sensible parallax1 and now so easily accounted for by the insignificant smallness of its orbit1 as compared with the remoteness of the stars4 ,limited1 in like manner1 to the narrow field of observation afforded within the human period1 the modifications of species and their transmutations into the higher grades of animals are not appreciable1 because its six thousand years are as a moment1 in comparison with those incalculable ages of geology which have been concerned in the phenomenon6 ,thus does the author of the 8,vestiges0 revel amidst the sublimities and copious materials of his subject4 ,time and space1 the elements of the astral heavens and the earth1 are alike indefinitely in his grasp4 ,that he has failed to frame a better system of things than the one we see actually around us1 is a necessary consequence of the restraints imposed on human investigation4 ,facts will not be supplanted by any heights1 or depths1 or ingenuities of speculation4 ,and as existing nature is all against the doctrine of transmutation and development1 so the discoveries of geology through all its formations are equally opposed to such views of creation4 ,a short sketch of both will abundantly illustrate this4 ,as to the course of living nature1 the development theory is there at once repudiated in the now clearly established fact1 that the first germinal vesicles are different in the different tribes of animals4 ,a non-identity of type is discoverable in the minutest microscopical beginnings of organic life4 ,and 8by no change of conditions can two ova of animals of the same species be developed into different animal species2 neither by any provision of identical conditions can two ova of different species be developed into animals of the same kind40 ,corresponding to these differences in their ftal forms1 there are in all the stages toward parturition a similarity of progress in the various organs and appendages in the same kinds of animals4 ,fishes1 birds1 quadrupeds1 all manifest a divergence from each other in the first action of the respirating organs--in the nervous system--and in all the apparatus connected with the movements of the heart and blood-vessels4 ,there is no structural interchange1 in the minutest part1 that distinguishes the orders of the perfect animal in any of the antecedent ftal conditions2 the organic contrivances within the egg being as complete and as thoroughly prospective to the future use and habits of the bird1 as are the petals of the flower inclosed within the bud1 the arms of the giant oak within the acorn1 or man in his evolving capacity toward intellectual being4 ,what is thus true in all the rudimentary stages of organic development is strikingly confirmed by the unalterable condition of all living nature4 ,plants and animals never diverge1 beyond small ascertained limits1 from the fixed characters of their families1 resisting the effects of every kind of influence1 whether proceeding from natural causes or human interference4 ,the lapse of three thousand years has left the embalmed carcasses of men and animals1 in ,egypt1 wrapped and swathed in a material woven from the same species of plants which still flourish on the banks of the ,nile4 ,the crocodile and the ibis still drink of its waters4 ,nothing changed in form or appearance1 the swarthy ,arab repairs to its cooling fountains to quench his thirst4 ,nature has been tortured in a thousand ways1 to cause her to depart from her long beaten paths2 but she is obdurate on every point4 ,man would improve her kinds1 and hybrids are produced2 but there the variety ends4 ,crosses are constantly attempted2 but 8the hitherto and no farther0 is soon approached4 ,our fruit-bearing trees are coaxed with all the appliances of horticultural skill2 and yet in all their seminal and floral organs1 the texture of their leaves and bark1 the structure of their roots and stem1 the rudimentary stock remains one and the same4 ,domestication has1 indeed1 wrought wonderful changes and improvements in the breed of many creatures4 ,horses1 oxen1 sheep1 pigs1 dogs1 and poultry of all sorts1 are increased in bulk1 tamed1 ameliorated in habit and disposition4 ,but the skeletons of all continue essentially as they were in their natural state2 and even the individuals the most widely removed from the primitive type1 as exemplified in the canine race1 never present any real difference of form in the important organs4--,when again abandoned to their own guidance1 and the restraints imposed by man are removed1 the domesticated animals1 one and all1 return to their former condition1 and speedily resume the instincts and appearance of the jungle and the forest4 ,if such are the unvarying laws of physiology now1 the presumption is that they have been the same in all past ages4 ,creatures are brought from the extremities of the earth--the polar1 temperate1 and tropical denizens1 all mixed up and crossed with each other--food1 climate1 and treatment1 all changed--and1 through all1 the type of every species continues as before--no transmutation of one kind into another under all the violent tutoring agencies to which they have been subjected4 ,for thousands of years such has been the unswerving course of nature4 ,would it not clearly be a solecism in reasoning to argue differently over the geological epochs1 however indefinite in extent1 because1 in the far-off regions of space1 our eyes can note no change in the relative position of the stars8 ,the things will not compare4 ,time and space are not co-ordinate terms4 ,and an appeal from positive knowledge to supposed1 assumed ignorance does not meet the question4 ,meanwhile1 the amplitude of the current epoch1 if we may so speak1 gives scope and verge enough for all the requirements of the problem to be solved1 the conditions of the argument to be established1 the process of reasoning to be employed4 ,an experience not merely of six thousand years1 but an experience embracing a uniformity of results in all the hundreds of thousands of instances into which animate nature is divided1 in all the countless species of plants and animals which have existed successively throughout the whole of that period1 furnishes proof of such a cumulative kind as approaches1 if not to demonstration1 at least to the nearest possible degree of certainty4 ,there is no instance of a single transmutation of a vegetable species into another species1 of alg into fuci or conversely1 of grasses into cereals1 of endogens into exogens1 of the pine into the oak2 and the same of animal species1 where1 through all the living tribes1 the fixity of family law has maintained its steady1 unchanging course since ,adam gave names to them1 down to the present hour4 ,what link in the chain is wanting8 ,the course of creation is verified and complete4 ,the exception would be a miracle4 ,and we are not at liberty1 upon just principles of ratiocination1 to refuse our assent1 where all the facts1 indefinite as to number1 are exclusively on one side1 and none upon the other4 ,our belief in the case is defined and restrained by the absolute uniformity of stubborn1 unbending nature2 and an appeal from the known to the unknown1 from the human to the geological epochs1 is just to relinquish reason for the dominion of imagination1 the evidences of the senses for the visions of fancy4 ,the shark1 rapacious as ever1 holds the empire of the seas--the lion1 the domain of the forest--the eagle1 the region of the air--and man1 progressive man1 alone looks unto the heavens and blesses his ,maker4 ,hume was so impressed with the force of this argument1 as to maintain1 upon the ground of it1 the absolute impossibility of establishing the truth of a single miraculous event1 or of any event that did not harmonize with the existing course of nature4 ,the ,laws of ,nature have been so uniform1 within the entire range of human experience1 as that no testimony or reasoning of man1 says that subtile dialectitian1 can invalidate their authority1 or render credible any alleged case of discrepancy or of deviation4--,the author of the 8,vestiges10 for the first time1 has cast the whole weight of this evidence aside1 or holds it as even scarcely relevant in a question of proof4 ,and thus outstripping1 as he does1 both the measure and the requirements of the ,christian's faith1 he may be safely left to the logic of its most merciless adversary in dealing with the phenomenal or imaginary transmutations of the geological epochs4 ,but the facts of geology1 from its remotest periods1 are in themselves no less strongly opposed to this extravagant1 untenable hypothesis4 ,this might be presumed from the distinct teachings of geology1 as already stated1 against the theory of a scale of beings becoming more perfect as we ascend from the faunas of the older to those of the newer formations4 ,the families of the various formations are distinct1 and consist of real non-interchanging forms of structure1 whether they die out and disappear with a particular formation1 or are carried forward and intermixed with the fossils of another4 ,the fishes of the silurian rocks1 are as perfect after their kind as those of the ,devonian1 ,carboniferous1 or ,cretaceous deposits2 and not less perfect than they are genuine types of all their successors4 ,the sauroids of the old red sandstone have reptilian resemblances1 but yet the saurians of the oolite age have no affinities of true kindred descent2 while1 again1 of all the mammalia of the tertiary period1 there is not one that boasts a likeness1 in habit or organization1 to a single creature of an antecedent or posterior epoch4 8,thus between the palotherium and the species of our own days10 says ,cuvier1 8we should be able to discover some intermediate forms3 and yet no such discovery has ever been made4 ,since the bowels of the earth have not preserved monuments of this strange genealogy1 we have a right to conclude1 that the ancient and now extinct species were as permanent in their forms and characters as those which exist at present3 or at least1 that the catastrophe which destroyed them did not leave sufficient time for the production of the changes that are alleged to have taken place40 ,agassiz1 in his own department of fishes1 is equally opposed in all his deductions to the transformation of species from one formation to another1 which he asserts1 8the imagination invents with as much facility as the reason refutes40 ,professor ,owen1 after minutely examining the organic structure of the nine orders of fossil reptiles1 declares no less strongly against the theory1 and adds--8,the nearest approximation to the organization of fishes is made by the ,ichthyosaurus1 an extinct genus which appears to have been introduced into the ancient seas subsequent to the deposition of the strata inclosing the remains of the thecodont lizards4 ,but by no known forms of the fossil animals can we diminish the wide interval which divides the most sauroid of fishes from an ,ichthyosaurus40#ab ,the development theory is not more at fault in the rudimentary structure and primitive size of animals1 as brought to light by the deepest researches of geology1 than it is in the perfection and complication of the several organs with which they were endowed4 ,these organs in the earlier types ought1 upon the principles of this theory1 to have all partaken of the simplicity and sameness of the germinal vesicles2 varying1 indeed1 in their complexity1 as in their completeness1 in proportion as we ascend among the fossiliferous strata4 ,but the facts are not so4 ,nay1 so far otherwise1 that in the very earliest specimens of ,nature's workmanship we find the mechanism of the parts as minute1 varied1 and multiplied1 as in those of her most recent productions4 ,examine the eye of the ,trilobite1 the oldest of crustaceans1 and the distinguishing type of the lowest of the fossiliferous rocks4 ,these creatures swarmed in the ,silurian seas4 ,their destiny was not fulfilled by the close of the tertiary periods1 for they still exist4 ,but in none of her subsequent creations has ,nature displayed greater elaboration in the parts1 or more skillful adaptive contrivance in their arrangement1 than in the visual organ of this palozoic family4 ,the eye of the trilobite is formed of four hundred spherical lenses1 arranged in distinct compartments on the surface of the cornea1 which again projects conically upward1 so as to enable the animal while resting1 or seeking its food at the bottom of the waters1 to take in the largest possible field of view--this1 as it might require1 either for the purpose of defense or attack4 ,fishes1 birds1 and mammals1 have all1 it is well known1 an optical apparatus precisely adjusted to their respective habits and the element in which they live4 ,fishes and fowls have their eyes differently constructed4--,the bat1 which preys in the dark1--the eagle1 which soars in the blaze of the sun1--and the mole1 which burrows in the earth1 have each peculiar and appropriate organisms4 ,but in none is there greater complication or perfection1 than what is manifested in the eye of these earliest and still living tribes of the waters4 ,the number of plates or cylinders which compose the eyes of insects1 a higher and more gifted class1 differs in different species1 amounting in the ant1 so provident and wise1 to only fifty1 in the house-fly to eight thousand1 and in the mordella to the amazing number of twenty-five thousand and eighty-eight4 ,and yet how much is all this surpassed by the astounding mechanism displayed in the eye of the cod-fish1 in whose crystalline lens there have been detected about five million fibers1 every fiber containing about twelve thousand five hundred teeth2 and the total number of these teeth or processes reaching the numerical1 though to us utterly inconceivable1 amount of sixty-two billions five hundred thousand millions6 ,but more than all this4 ,look at the multiplied appliances furnished to the humblest and lowest of all living creatures for performing the functions of an existence scarcely removed above the vegetable4 8,the tentacula of polypi10 says ,dr4 ,roget1 8are exquisitely sensible1 and are frequently seen1 either singly or altogether1 bending their extremities toward the mouth1 when any minute floating body comes in contact with them4 ,when a polypi is expanded1 a constant current of water is observed to take place1 directed toward the mouth4 ,these currents are never produced by the motions of the tentacula themselves2 but are invariably the effects of the rapid vibrations of the cilia placed on the tentacula4 ,now1 of these organs a single flustra foliaca has been calculated to possess about #djj1jjj1jjj40 ,thus much for the ,zoophyte class of animals--placed on the extreme verge of organized bodies--and members of a system of being1 according to the development theory1 whose primitive productions are of the simplest kind1 the monads of a germinating vesicle6 ,nor will the development theory do better1 when it would account for the diversity of instincts which prevail in the animal kingdom4 ,the instincts1 indeed1 it assumes as the cause of all their diversity of structural organization4 ,but this is to beg the whole question4 ,geology carries us back to the beginnings of organic life1 when animals1 each after their kind1 were already perfected1 and endowed with a ready-made apparatus for the particular sphere of existence assigned them4 ,the polypi are still a distinct race1 unvarying in their instincts1 not the least improved in the building art1 still piling up reefs1 and doing the same thing which they did when first created4 ,the nautilus has lived through all time1 swimming his fragile bark as dextrously over the ,silurian seas as he now does amidst the breakers of the ,pacific4 ,the cephalopoda and the finny tribes then warred against each other1 and ever since they meet in mortal conflict4 ,the same with all the great families which were successively brought upon the stage3 species and genera have changed1 the old withdrawn1 and new ones introduced2 but in their respective orders--reptiles1 insects1 birds1 and quadrupeds--the type ever continues1 and the instincts remain2 and there is no nearer an approximation to or crossing of each other's domains now1 than when first summoned into being4 ,were the development theory true in nature1 and the epochs of geology the myriads of ages assumed1 the presumption would be1 that the old primitive forms would have been all obliterated and figures of creatures substituted1 all of the most remote and indistinct analogies4 ,the monodal races1 why have they not all passed away8 ,had the reptiles sprung from fishes1 why1 upon the principle of progression1 should there be fishes still8 ,had man derived his parentage from the monkey1 why are there so many species of the one class1 and only a single great family of the other8 ,the vegetable tribes have been equally true to their kind--the fucoids and alg1 still abundant in the seas--the pines of ,mar forest1 rivaling in coniferous qualities the most gigantic of the oldest relics--and the palms and fern trees of ,australia maintaining the very types that flourished in the carboniferous era4 ,the scheme of creation1 moreover1 implied in the development theory1 proceeds1 as it appears to us1 upon an inconsistency of assumption that is completely at variance with its own leading cardinal principle1 namely1 a continuous progression from the less to the more perfect forms of organic existence4 ,if this be true with the particulars1 why not also in the generals of all that is endowed with the mystery of life8 ,every great type or class of being1 whose remains are detected in the most ancient rocks of the earth1 has still its representatives in living nature4 ,the two ends of the chain1 the infusorial and mammalian families1 are still produced distinct1 and each perfect after its kind4 ,the course of creation is thus always1 through indefinite time1 returning upon itself like the fallacy in dialectics of reasoning in a circle1 instead of advancing from the successively higher standards of the perfected models to still more varied and perfect degrees of excellence4 ,the circumstances and conditions1 too1 of the planet are different from what they were in the palozoic times1 and yet the tribes developed then are all developed still2 different in the species and genera1 but of the same forms and families2 not larger1 but more frequently less1 in size1 and not of better or more complex workmanship4 ,the principle is1 therefore1 inconsistent with itself1 while it leaves unexplained its own assumption of progression in one particular direction only1 instead1 as it ought to be1 in all the primitive types of organic existence4 ,the theory is imperfect beside1 in attempting no explanation of the inorganic structures of creation2 for the original molecules of matter which assimilated1 aggregated1 and produced the primary rocks of granite1 gneiss1 schist1 limestone1 should have had their law in this direction as well as in the other1 of progressive perfection4 ,but these rocks1 in no such sense as this1 have been repeated or reproduced3 matter1 essentially the same1 according to the theory of the 8,vestiges10 whether organic or inorganic1 has here retrograded rather than progressed2 and if we would contemplate its most elaborate and beautiful forms1 either igneous or sedimentary1 we must go1 not to the secondary and tertiary formations for our specimens1 but to the crystalline groups of the primary epoch4 ,whatever it may have been with ,lamarck1 it is certain1 in the case of the author of the 8,vestiges10 that the speculations originating in the nebular hypothesis lie at the foundation of all his philosophy4 ,this ,essay would never have been executed1 as it could not even have been imagined1 but for the data so abundantly supplied by a universal star-dust lettering1 filling all space and inscribed over all time4 ,but change the names1 and it is only the atoms of ,democritus and the vortices of ,descartes that constitute the elements1 one and all1 of the modern cosmogony4 ,cicero in his first and second books 8,de ,natura ,deorum10 has given a full and ample refutation of the former2 and his merit is the greater1 when it is considered that the inductive methods of philosophizing were not in use nor even guessed at in his time4 ,the argument1 as quaintly translated in ,ray's 8,wisdom of ,creation10 is thus stated--8,if the works of nature are better1 more exact and perfect1 than the works of art1 and art effects nothing without reason1 neither can the works of nature be thought to be effected without reason2 for is it not absurd and incongruous1 that when thou beholdest a statue or curious picture1 thou shouldst acknowledge that art was used to the making of it2 or1 when thou seest the course of a ship upon the waters thou shouldst not doubt but the motion of it is regulated and directed by reason and art2 or1 when thou considerest a ,,sun-,,dial or ,,clock1 thou shouldst understand presently1 that the hours are shown by art and not by chance2 and yet imagine or believe1 that the world1 which comprehends all these arts and artificers1 was made without counsel or reason8 ,if one should carry into ,scythia or ,britain such a sphere as our friend ,posidonius lately made1 each of whose conversions did the same thing in the sun and moon and other five planets1 which we see effected every night and day in the heavens1 who among those barbarians would doubt that that sphere was composed by reason and art80 ,the inhabitants of this island are no longer the 8barbarians40 ,the ,scythians still are so1 and have ever been4 ,upon the development hypothesis1 might we not pause to ask1 has our intellectual1 and moral1 and social progress affected our physical condition so as in aught to change the organic relation of the two nations1 barbarous both in the time of ,cicero8 ,but we proceed3--8,a wonder then it must needs be10 continues the philosopher1 8that there should be any man found so stupid and forsaken of reason1 as to persuade himself that this most beautiful and adorned world was or could be produced by the fortuitous concourse of atoms4 ,he that can prevail with himself to believe this1 ,i do not see why he may not as well admit1 that if there were made innumerable figures of the one-and-twenty letters1--in gold suppose or any other metal1--and these well shaken and mixed together1 and thrown down from some high place to the ground1 they1 when they lighted upon the earth1 would be so disposed and ranked1 that a man might see and read in them ,ennius's ,annals2 whereas1 it were a great chance if he should find one verse thereof among them all3 for if this concourse of atoms could make a ,,whole ,,world1 why may it not sometimes make1 and hath it not somewhere or other in the earth made1 a temple1 or a gallery1 or a portico1 or a house1 or a city8 which yet it is so far from doing1 and every man so far from believing1 that should any one of us be cast1 suppose upon a desolate island1 and find there a magnificent palace1 artificially contrived according to the exactest rules of architecture1 and curiously adorned and furnished1 it would never once enter into his head that this was done by an earthquake1 or the fortuitous shuffling together of its component materials1 or that it had stood there ever since the construction of the world1 or first cohesion of atoms2 but would presently conclude that there had been some intelligent architect there1 the effect of whose art and skill it was4 ,or1 should he find there but one single sheet of parchment or paper1 an epistle or oration written full of profound sense1 expressed in proper and significant words1 illustrated and adorned with elegant phrase1--it were beyond the possibility of the wit of man to persuade him that this was done by the temerarious dashes of an unguided pen1 or by the rude scattering of ink upon the paper1 or by the lucky projection of so many letters at all adventures2 but he would be convinced1 by the evidence of the thing at first sight1 that there had been not only some man1 but some scholar1 there40 ,now1 here let there be but the substitution of a few terms--8fortuitous concourse0 for the 8nucleated vesicle0--8atoms0 that whirl in mazy dance through indefinite time1 for the 8stardust0 revolving through infinite space--8transmutation of species0 for 8the lucky projection of so many letters0--and the overthrow of the one hypothesis is as ruinously complete as the demolition of the other4 ,thus geology1 while it reveals a succession of animal types1 pronounces each after its kind perfect in its own degree and measure of organic development4 ,the oldest known fossil fish 7the ,onchus ,murchisoni1 and inhumed in the lowest fossiliferous beds71 belongs to the highest type of the ,cestraciont division of the vertebrata4 ,what they were made at first1 they all vindicate their capacity of continuing to the end4 ,the various tribes and orders had their own limits of organization1 their own sphere within which the functions of each were to be performed1 and adapted to the condition in which they were placed1 each reaped the full enjoyment that divine benevolence had appointed4 ,man was the last in the course of successive creation1 endowed with the highest and most enlarged capacities1 and1 allied to none1 was constituted the priest of nature1 that he might collect the silent praises of the universe1 and offer them to the ,creator in intelligent devotion4 ,but here it is1 when we have reached this link of the chain1 that the most vitiating element in the whole doctrine of progressive development is manifested4 ,the anti-theism and materialism1 involved inevitably and undisguisedly in the noxious dogma1 are brought out in bold relief4 ,this dogma implies1 that the cosmical arrangements and all the organic transmutations of living types1 are none of them directly the result of any personal1 immediate creative actings on the part of ,deity4 ,these arrangements1 from the beginning1 are all dependent on one unchanging law1 applicable alike to organic and inorganic bodies1 to the mysterious principle of life1 and to things inanimate1--to mind as to matter4 ,the simple effect of this may appear to be1 the removal of the ,creator merely a step farther from his own works1 which he can still hold in the hollow of his hand1 and bend whither ,he will4 ,but the statement goes a great deal farther4 ,it strikes directly at the root of all moral distinctions as well as of all revealed truth4 ,the creature man1 upon this hypothesis1 the last link in the terrestrial chain1 comes not from his ,maker's hands 8made in his own likeness40 ,he too is the product of a natural law1 evolved after a long series of metamorphoses1 to whose operation the moral and the physical are equally subject1--the soul and the body alike the result of its rigid inflexible agency4 ,front the fire-mist and electro-nebulous matter1 which is assumed to have originally filled all space1 ,man1 along with suns and stars1 and all planetary bodies1 derived the first germ of his being4 ,at first gaseous1 it became in process of time concrete4 ,there was no life until the electric spark1 struck in some mysterious way from the dance of atoms and wild whirl of the elements1 vivified the germ with this newly-developed principle4 ,then the germinal vesicle became a self-moving1 self-acting thing--not at first1 but after a series of changes1 adapted into the type of the human family1 whose life was but the life for ages of the animals that have perished1 and are now fossilized in their various formations4 ,,the ,,principle ,,of ,,life1 in short1 as implied in this account of its origin1 is the same essentially with the light and heat that sparkle and glow in the rolling orbs which deck the firmament6 ,much of the development theory is built upon the influence of the instincts as manifested in the lower tribes4 ,let its abettors listen to the indignant cry of ,,the ,,whole ,,family ,,of ,,man against this theory of his origin2 and say1 if there is not an instinct here1 peculiar and distinct1 to vindicate his claim to a separate and distinct position in the great system of being4 8,quanta ad eam rem vis10 says ,cicero1 8ut in suo quoque genere permaneat40 ,the continental philosophy1 at no time for the last century1 has partaken of a religious1 healthy tone4 ,it has been profoundly subtile in its speculations and analysis1 but never truly spiritual4 ,the author of the 8,vestiges10 from his own turn of mind1 has been all the more enamored of it1 and1 unwittingly dragged into its vortex1 has been carried far beyond the ken of all rightful philosophies4 ,these are not the subjects of legitimate investigation4 ,man has no plummet-line1 in all his armory of science1 wherewith to sound them4 ,grant that in the manner now described1 the human race originated1 and became living creatures--destined1 it may be1 to undergo new changes and to ascend into new orders of being--the animal nature to be perfected in the progressive modifications of his type4 ,but the divine ethereal spark1 as men vulgarly dream of themselves1 what account is given of this8 ,the soul1 what8 and whence derived8 ,the thinking principle of mind1--where its place1 and what provision made for its efflux1 in the nebulous ether8 ,the inference unquestionably is1 that if such be its source1 the human ,,understanding must be of the essence of matter out of which it evolved1--glorious as the sun and fair as the moon1--but not the heavenly element1 animate with the immaterial1 incorruptible being of ,divinity4 ,but this is not the teaching of geology4 ,through all the story of its undefinable epochs1 and in the myriad sarcophagi of its extinct generations1 there is no record1 no trace of man4 ,he stands1 utterly and far apart1 from every fossilized thing1 while-- 8,the most distant star's invisible beam1 ,or comet on his farthest journeyings1 ,or all the extent which philosophic ken ,has given to infinite space1 the elastic soul ,springs over0---- and claims kindred with the image of the heavenly1 whence it came1 and whither it seeks and aspires to return4 ,while1 therefore1 to wild speculations like these nature and geology give no countenance1 but demonstrate the reverse to have been the course of creation in all the present1 and in every past epoch1--that races1 like individuals1 have their terms of existence1--that all die out or are violently exterminated1--and that new families are created1 adapted to the changes which have taken place1 and organically distinct from all that preceded them1--there is1 at the same time1 a theory of progression and development distinctly traceable in all the divine actings in this world4 ,this view of things is in every stage of it visibly dependent upon ,his will1 as it emanates directly from ,his appointment1 and stands in pleasing contrast to the rationalist phasis of creation4 8,wisdom's artful aim ,disposing every part1 and gaining still ,by means proportioned1 her benignant end40 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,analogical ,,order--,,physical ,,and ,,moral--,,of ,,progression4 ,the author of the 8,vestiges0 devotes two chapters to what he terms general and particular considerations respecting the origin of the animated tribes4 ,he regards it as a thing completely demonstrated1 or as requiring so little proof as to be taken for granted1 that the inorganic elements all took together by a process of natural law1 which ,deity was not required to superintend1 but simply to begin4 ,he supposes1 hypothetically1 that this also would be the case with the organic structures1 that1 in the originating of the first tribes1 ,god supplied the materials1 and that natural law assimilated and fashioned them into their different orders and families4 ,this might be predicated of the ,creator1 he fancies1 as the mode in which he would act2 and by removing him a step away from his own works1 and allowing all the subsequent genera and species of the epochs of geology to go out and to come in according to the same process1 his special interference in such arrangements is rendered unnecessary2 and the greater honor is reflected upon operations in themselves so complicated and vast1 and yet all so minutely1 orderly1 and prospectively ordained4 ,we need not employ more than a sentence in reply to this mode of reasoning4 ,hypothetically ,i would say1 if ,god was to create a world at all1 and to store it with living creatures1 he would do all these things directly of ,himself4 ,he created every individual particle of the original matter1 in all their infinitesimally minute and myriad atoms4 ,we do not know how1 nor the manner thereof4 ,but every one of them required his special interference singly1 as in combination and a whole2 and had not ,deity so specially acted with the parts as with the mass in willing them into being1 none of them1 of any kind or quality1 would have been in existence4--,why not the same manner of creating as to the species1 genera1 and orders of the animated tribes8 ,these required not less ,his direct personal interference than the elementary particles and minims out of which they were formed2 and superintendence in the one case is as dignified1 if the term may be so applied1 as in the other4 ,admit the omnipotence1 omniscience1 and omnipresence of ,deity--and the author admits them all--and any other mode of reasoning is wholly nugatory--as useless in science as it is inadmissible in fact--as inconsistent with the subtilties of the profoundest analysis as with the conclusions of the most confiding theology4 ,but the creation of the world by ,god being admitted1 it is no less true1 and it is equally a necessary truth1 that the arrangement and disposition of its parts1 the order and succession of its events1 are each immediately an effect of the great ,first ,cause4 ,as no material substance could originate itself1 so neither could it impart the principle of life1 or construct the organization through which that principle is manifested and maintained in the exercise of its functions4 ,equally impossible is it for the course of events1 the motion of the elements1 the growth of plants and animals1 and all those subtile processes in nature by which objects are produced and distinguished1 each after their kind1 to be the results of chance1 or of any inherent1 underived properties existing in the things themselves4 ,whether ,god acts mediately by a course of nature originally established1 or immediately and constantly1 by the same divine agency which produced all things at first1 and impressed upon each its peculiar properties1 may be a question in philosophy1 but none in theology4 ,we indeed may speculate respecting the manner of the ,divine acting1 and may speak of that manner as the laws according to which the system of nature proceeds2 but we cannot doubt the source whence the chain of events takes its rise1 or wherefore it is that there are order and regularity in the arrangements of the universe4 ,and while everything is of ,god1 and the course of nature precisely such as ,he intends upon whom the whole is dependent1 it is interesting to find the closest analogy subsisting between the actings of the ,divine ,being in every department of his supreme and universal government4 ,the scheme of revelation manifests itself to be of ,god1 not only by the peculiar testimony of prophesy and miracle to which it appeals1 but by the resemblance which it bears1 in the order and character of its dispensations1 to the established constitution of creation and providence2--so intimate and striking as1 in fact1 to leave no doubt1 in every impartial mind1 that the author of the one must be the author of both4 ,we have already stated that a progression is manifested in the order and arrangement of the rocky masses which compose the earth's crust--in the nature and qualities of its mineral contents--and in the various revolutions which are indicated by the fossil organic remains that lie entombed in the strata of the interior4 ,take the most useful of all the sections of the earth's crust1 namely1 what is denominated the carboniferous or coal formation1 here we have a regular sequence or series of beds resting one upon another1 and all so disposed1 from the lowest to the highest1 as to be most suitably adapted for reaching and bringing to the surface the inclosed treasure4 ,nor did nature all at once bring to maturity those prodigious masses of plants and vegetables of which this wonderful deposit is composed4 ,her flora seems to have been upon a limited scale at first1 until the earth1 being prepared for its accumulation and preservation1 throws from its teeming bosom1 with a profusion unknown before or since1 the vegetable matter out of which our coal is formed4 ,consider1 again1 the dip and dislocation of the strata connected with it1 and you have a proof of a new order of causes being brought1 subsequently1 into operation1 before coal could be available for man's use4 ,examine1 next1 the vast accumulations which repose upon the coal--the curious relics which are imbedded in them--the evidences thereby afforded of relative changes in the sea and land--of the elevation of mountains1 the denudation and formation of valleys--and you cannot fail to infer1 from all this1 that the surface of the earth was not always as it now is2 that there was a period when man could not have existed on it2 and that for him who was the last in the order of all ,god's creations1 it was gradually and progressively prepared as a suitable habitation4 ,when1 again1 we advert to the course of creation1 there is a gradual progression from the little to the great1 from the insignificant1 if we may apply such a term comparatively to any of the works of ,god1 to the noble and the grand4 ,each of the links that compose the mighty chain is perfect in its kind2 each serves to connect and illustrate the link that borders next to it2 each is adapted to its place in the system1 so that the lowest could not be exalted1 nor could the highest be brought down1 to answer the purposes of any inferior member of the series4 ,a pebble has more attraction to the eye than any of the colorless particles which compose the soil2 but from the pebble the fruits of the earth can derive no nourishment4 ,the lichen or the moss which adheres to the solid rock may be inferior in beauty and attraction to the lily of the valley1 or the lofty cedars of ,lebanon2 but the latter will not grow in the barren regions of the north1 and without the former1 hundreds of insect and animal tribes would perish4 ,man constitutes the principal link in the chain of visible creation2 he is higher than the highest of the animal race2 and do not the superior endowments and blessings of man1 however eminent in themselves1 appear still more eminent and valuable by contrasting them with the inferior powers1 the ruder enjoyments1 the meaner and more sordid passions1 of the lower creatures8 which yet amply display the wisdom and goodness of their ,author1 both in their frame and state1 in the relation which they have1 and the connection which they hold with the orders above and below them4 ,looking upward1 again1 what is man but a lower link of that chain of beings which1 like its ,author1 reacheth through immensity8 ,thousands1 nay1 millions of spiritual orders may possibly fill up the chasm1 if that be possible1 between the human and ,divine nature1 and who1 by the very contrast with man's estate1 may have a juster knowledge and a more grateful relish of their own refined and spiritual natures4 ,take away1 indeed1 8the human face divine10 and there would be one note of praise less in the great temple of ,jehovah2 but1 while angels could not fulfill the purposes of man in the order of creation1 the perfections of the ,godhead are infinitely more exalted by their activity in a purer sphere--their keener visions and juster apprehensions--their unclouded faculties--and their sublime and lofty contemplations1 all corresponding with the clearer manifestations of divine truth1 light1 and glory1 vouchsafed to them4 ,descend1 in short1 as low1 or rise as high as we may1 in the scale of being1 we will still find something inferior1 something superior2 and not more remote from each other in the extreme points are the minims of nature intimated to us by the microscope1 and the magnificent systems above which the telescope has disclosed to view1 than are the wonderful differences and infinite range subsisting among living organized substances1 from the vegetable to the animal1 from the irrational to the intellectual1 and from the intellectual to the spiritual and divine4 ,but one class cannot complain of the superior advantages of the class above it4 ,the constitutions of all are precisely adapted to their respective places in the scheme of things1 and the desires of all1 according to their various capacities1 are suitably gratified4 ,each is happy in its sphere1 and still subservient to the higher happiness of others4 ,the garden is the insect's paradise1 man is lord of the brute creation1 angels are principalities and powers when compared to the knowledge and the happiness of man4 8,consider10 says the author of 8,paradise ,lost10 8that great ,or bright infers not excellence3 the earth ,though1 in comparison of heaven1 so small1 ,nor glistering1 may of solid good contain ,more plenty than the sun that barren shines3 ,whose virtue on itself works no effect1 ,but on the fruitful earth40 ,when we turn to the dispensations of providence1 we find the same principle prevailing in the communication of all its gifts--of them all1 whether evolved in the natural or moral course of events4 ,the many blessings which the mere diffusion of the solar rays imparts are not obtained all at once2 the early dawn1 the meridian splendor1 the softening shades of twilight1 are each accompanied with distinct and peculiar enjoyments to man and beast4 ,observe the course of the seasons3 after winter come the gentle zephyrs of spring1 the glowing heat of summer1 to be again succeeded by the rich though milder beams of autumn4 ,the seed which is deposited in the ground scarcely at first exhibits signs of life2 but from that seed the green stalk gradually ascends1 the ear is formed1 the corn is produced in the ear1 and man gathers from it his daily bread4 ,behold the new-born infant--the most helpless and imbecile of all nature's productions--what labor1 watchfulness1 and care1 before he comes to the maturity of manhood6 how slowly do the powers of intellect expand6 what diligence requisite for the moral culture of the heart6 how gradual and progressive the whole steps by which he has been trained for the business and enterprises of life6 ,look now into the crowded city1 where thousands and tens of thousands of rational beings have passed1 and are all passing1 through a similar process of discipline2 consider how many generations have passed away before it attained to its present greatness2 its wealth1 its buildings1 its schools of instruction1 its temples of solemn worship2 its philosophers1 poets1 orators1 and statesmen2 its laws1 manners1 sciences1 and fine arts1 are the accumulation1 the work1 and the growth of centuries4 ,it is the same with nations as with individuals1 and with all nations and countries as with one2 the blessings of civilization are gradually diffused1 sometimes retarded1 and often buried for ages beneath the inroads of barbarism2 but again emerging in greater abundance1 taking a firmer step1 and advancing onward and wider than before4 ,and at last1 from the favored position on which we have been placed1 we see before us the certain prospect1 in the increased facilities and means of communication which are now opened up1 that they will be still more universally imparted1 until truth1 righteousness1 and peace1 cover the face of the whole earth4 ,consider now1 under the same progressive aspect1 the scheme of revelation4 ,here we find the same analogy prevailing from the less to the greater1 from the smallest tokens of the ,divine favor1 to the full and boundless manifestations of inexhaustible love and mercy4 ,from the fall to the restoration of man1 the expressions of ,god's interest in our condition are limited and obscure2 but the plan is defined and the means arranged in the only way that was proper to display his goodness and make us sensible of his mercies4 ,the blessings conferred upon the people of ,god1 before the law and under the law1 were chiefly temporal4 ,hence the rites and ceremonies of their worship were purposely of such a nature1 and so multiplied1 as principally to operate through the medium of the senses4 ,hence the various symbols of the ,divine presence1 when ,god personally1 as it were1 descended among them1 and over-awed them by his visible glory4 ,hence the giving of the law amidst thunders1 and lightnings1 and shakings of the mountains1 when external nature under its most appalling aspects bore testimony to the severe justice of the ,divine character1 and seemed to intimate1 in a way which even the most hardened sinners would understand1 how dreadful must be the judgments of their incensed and supreme ,lawgiver4 ,the ,israelites were not sufficiently removed from their natural state to be as yet capable of a religion purely spiritual1 like the ,christian2 and hence it was1 that every later dispensation of ,god excelled the former1 even as the trumpet on ,mount ,sinai 8waxed louder and louder10 every succeeding blast transcending those that went before4 ,the prophets rose above the ritual law1 and showed men a more excellent way of worshiping ,god than by external performances1 thereby preparing their minds for the reception of the ,gospel4 ,the tabernacle was no longer used after ,solomon's temple was built1 but was laid aside1 as the temple itself was 8when the fullness of the time was come20 and as the sanctuary and tabernacle preceded the temple1 so the glory of the latter was to be greater than that of the former1 by the appearance of ,him who was greater than the temple1 whose mission was distinguished by more numerous miracles1 and by sublimer and more important truths than had been before manifested to the world4 ,behold a higher dispensation still1 when1 after the state of grace ends1 the state of glory shall commence2 where all knowledge shall be imparted and all truth unvailed1 where imperfection and sin shall no more adhere to us1 and where1 after the experience of millions of ages spent in the enjoyment of heavenly happiness1 we shall be still advancing in glory and felicity1 and attaining to higher measures of the increasing strength and ever-growing splendor of the sons of ,god4 ,these analogies may be extended4 ,the wisdom and goodness of a ,god1 for example1 equally appear in the late and partial promulgation of ,christianity1 which is sometimes considered an objection against its truth1 but which1 in fact1 is in perfect accordance with the same principle of progression which we have been illustrating in the general economy and arrangements of all ,god's proceedings4 ,the gifts of nature are not imparted universally1 nor in the same measure to all4 ,the discoveries of science are the result of long and patient investigation4 ,herbs have been allowed to run waste for centuries upon centuries1 of which the medicinal virtues have only recently been discovered4 ,through how many ages had mankind been left in ignorance of the properties of the magnet1 and the simple apparatus of the compass-box1 braving all the perils1 and tossed about on the unknown wastes of the ocean8 ,how much did the progress of knowledge and education suffer1 during the lapse of so many generations1 for want of the printing-press8 ,what oppressions and cruelties have been practiced upon the different nations of the earth1 through means of bad laws and bad government1 of which even yet many are learning but the elements8 ,and how is it that of one and all these things--the truths of science1 the art of healing1 the principles of navigation1 the discipline of wholesome instruction1 the enactment of good laws1 and the various blessings of civilized life--more than two-thirds of the human race are in these latter ages still entirely destitute8 ,god governs both in the kingdom of nature and in the kingdom of grace1 and any objection1 therefore1 against the truth of revelation that may be built upon these grounds1 goes equally to dethrone the ,almighty from any share of interest in the government of the universe4 ,but the ,gospel1 in fact1 would have been premature before the actual time of its appearance2 the history of providence in former ages could not have been appealed to1 the sacrifice of the ,redeemer had not been understood without the legal sacrifices preceding1 the prophesies would have been unfulfilled1 and the world would have been unprepared for a worship so pure and spiritual1 a morality so searching and uncompromising1 and a faith so lofty and exalted1 had there not been much previous training and discipline1 through the instrumentality of patriarchs1 prophets1 and legislators4 ,one of the most striking proofs1 in short1 of the ,divine wisdom in the dispensation of grace1 is its harmonizing so exactly with the established course of nature4 ,this is manifested more especially in the manner in which the heavenly blessings with which it is fraught have been communicated--slowly1 gradually1 and partially at first1 more fully and generally diffused as men were prepared to receive them1 and1 when 8the fullness of the time0 had arrived1 imparted freely and in the richest abundance unto all2 light after light1 truth after truth1 and mercy upon mercy1 all in such order of succession1 that the former illustrate and recommend the latter1 while the last are only a preparation for future and still greater mercies4 ,and so it has been with the whole ,course of ,creation--the succession of strata1 of animal and vegetable tribes1 and with man and the adaptive provision for his higher destiny4 ,this is a doctrine of development and of progression1 widely different from that of the 8,vestiges10 more in unison with the ,creator's wisdom and the ,creator's care3--a speculation worthy of a separate treatise1 namely1 the progress and development of man's intelligent1 moral1 and spiritual being as indicated in ,,the ,,course ,,of ,,revelation4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,causes ,,of ,,extinction ,,of ,,organic ,,life4 ,when the palontologist has completely established his position1 that all the organic phenomena of primeval times have resulted from the impress of original structure1 in opposition to the theory of progressive development and transmutation of species2 and when he can trace1 also1 corresponding changes in the mineral formations in which the fossil remains are imbedded1 the important inquiry has still to be made into the causes of the extinction of so many races of the animal and vegetable kingdoms4 ,introduced successively upon the surface of the earth1 was there always a physical and necessary relation betwixt the living tribes and the varying conditions of the surrounding media in which their lot was cast8 ,and do the differences in the one explain the changes in the organic functions of the other8 ,when we look back to the earliest of the fossiliferous rocks we can discover something in the nature of their materials themselves which would cause the destruction of their organic tribes4 ,the ,silurian strata have been violently disturbed1 and much molten matter1 during the period of their deposition1 injected among them2 and by causes such as these1 life would suffer greatly1 and whole races be suddenly destroyed4 ,even the strong incased ganoids and placoids of the ,devonian period could not always be able to subsist and bear up against the spasmodic throes that produced the conglomerates4 ,animals preyed likewise upon each other1 and by this means kept up then1 as now1 the general average and balance of life4 ,but in none of these modes can anything like a ,,law be inferred1 any stated provision be detected1 for the outgoing and the incoming of the different genera and species which successively peopled the globe4 ,the rocks differ1 as the organisms differ1 age to age1 from each other3 but the series of changes traced in the one class of phenomena1 furnish only a few data by which to determine as to the alterations that would be produced in the class cotemporaneous4 ,no land animals have been found in any of the formations beneath the new red sandstone4 ,no quadrupeds existed before the tertiary age4 ,and the monster lizards which so exuberantly sprang into existence during the middle secondary epoch1 had all disappeared when these terrestrials occupied the stage4 ,wisdom we can trace in all the arrangements2 care and goodness are everywhere apparent4 ,the seas swarmed with marine animals1 while the terrestrials could scarcely have subsisted on an upheaving earth and new forming land4 ,quadrupeds roamed not over fields so diversified by the lakes and slimy lagoons in which the ,saurians found their convenient habitation4 ,and beyond the simple fact1 that ,divine will so ordained that such things should be1 both in the animal and mineral changes in the history of our planet1 we have only a ray of light to guide us in interpreting the revolutions and destructions which are therein so indelibly recorded4 ,the mollusca and shell families appear and depart along with the calcareous deposits which inclose their remains2 but we know as much of the source of the one as of the range and limit of1 or the causes which destroyed1 the other4 ,orthocer and nautili have survived all changes1 and have maintained in the types by which they are represented their old instincts and predaceous propensities4 ,the holoptychii and dipteri perished1 just as the materials of the new red sandstone were being deposited1 and whose identity1 in all essential mineral qualities1 differs in nothing from the old red in which they are entombed4 ,the flora of the carboniferous age came and went with the suddenness and entireness of an eastern dynasty1 the gorgeous spoils of which are all that remain to attest its former greatness4 ,the mammoths1 dinotheriums1 and kindred pachyderms of the tertiary groups had all left the earth on the dawn of the human epoch4 ,and now1 since the commencement of that epoch1 we find that entire families have become extirpated1 that species of others have been driven from their former localities1 and that generally1 both of vegetables and animals1 the geographical distribution is being1 year by year1 greatly modified4 ,during the last century1 the introduction into ,germany of some new species of insects1 and their multiplication1 utterly destroyed forests of vast extent2 and every year1 in some quarter of the globe1 we hear of equally mighty catastrophes produced by equally minute insidious causes4 ,the organic things of earth1 it would thus appear1 have their terms of existence of longer and shorter duration1 and the race at last dies out equally with the individuals which compose it4 ,no better reason for this can be assigned1 than that such is1 and has always been1 the course of nature4 ,particular families of plants and animals are cotemporaneous with particular groups of rocks3 with these they are observed for the first time2 at the close of the deposit1 all farther traces of their remains are lost2 and1 in so far1 there is ground for arguing that the same general causes were concerned in effecting the successive changes1 organic as well as inorganic1 of the periods and formations in question4 ,what these causes were1 it may never be permitted to science fully to determine4 ,it was indeed1 the opinion of ,cuvier1 that in the mammoth epoch a change of climate effected the destruction of this giant family of pachyderms4 ,this change of climate has been accounted for by ,murchison and others1 especially in ,siberia1 where so many remains are found1 by an elevation of the country to the height of one or two hundred-feet above its former level4 ,and doubtless1 by such a change1 animal as well as vegetable life must1 in many specific forms1 have been greatly affected4 ,there can be little doubt1 however1 of the most perfect adaptive arrangements prevailing through all the geological epochs1 some of which have been plausibly conjectured4 ,as reptiles1 for instance1 differ from birds and mammals1 in having a lower and simpler structure of the lungs and heart1 and therefore a less active performance of the respiratory functions1 they become less dependent on the atmosphere or oxygen for existence4 8,hence10 says ,professor ,owen1 8from their extraordinary prevalence in the secondary periods1 under varied modifications of size and structure1 severally adapting them to the performance of those tasks in the economy of organic nature which are now assigned to the warm-blooded and quick-breathing classes1 the physiologist is led to conjecture that the atmosphere had not undergone those changes1 which the consolidation and concentration of certain of its elements in subsequent additions to the earth's crust may have occasioned during the long lapse of ages during which the extinction of so large a proportion of the reptilian class took place4 ,and if the chemist1 by wide and extended views of his science in relation to geology1 and mineralogy1 should demonstrate1 as the botanist from considerations of the peculiar features of the extinct flora has been led to suspect1 that the atmosphere of this globe formerly contained more carbon and less oxygen than at present1 then the anatomist might1 priori1 have concluded that the highest classes of animals suited to the respiration of such a medium must have been the cold-blooded fishes and reptiles4 ,and beside1 the probability of such a condition of the zoological series being connected with the chemical modifications of the air1 the terrestrial reptiles1 from the inferior energy of their muscular contractions1 and still more from the greater irritability of the fibers and power of continuing their actions1 would constitute the highest organized species1 best adapted to exist under greater atmospheric pressure than operates on the surface of the earth at the present time40 ,by parity of reasoning it may be inferred1 that as great changes would be effected in the waters of the globe as in the constituents of the atmosphere2 and1 while thus preparing for the introduction of new families of animals1 the destruction of already existing tribes may be as conclusively imagined4 ,the various calcareous deposits in the mountain limestone1 magnesian1 oolite1 and chalk periods1 would imply very different qualities in the condition of the ocean2 an infusion or abstraction of ingredients as favorable to the existence of one kind of animal life as they would be destructive of another4 ,a period of great plutonic action1 too1 when vast masses of melted matter1 charged with metallic and other substances1 were poured over the bed of the sea1 could not fail to have considerable influence upon many of the inhabitants of the deep2 and while providence was making arrangements for an increase1 or diversity1 or for higher types of animal life1 the existence of other forms and classes was ordained to terminate4 ,the introduction of new and higher races upon the earth has thus been accounted for4 8,through such a medium as the air10 says the authority quoted above1 8approaching in a corresponding degree to the physical properties of water1 a cold-blooded animal might even rise above the surface1 and wing its heavy flight1 since this would demand less energetic muscular actions than are now requisite for such a kind of locomotion3 and thus we may conceive why the atmosphere of our planet1 during the earlier oolite periods1 may have been traversed by creatures of no higher organization than saurians4 ,if we may presume to conjecture that atmospheric pressure has been diminished1 by a change in the composition1 as well as by a diminution of the general mass of the air1 the beautiful adaptation of the structure of birds to a medium thus rendered both lighter and more invigorating1 by the abstraction of carbon and an increase of oxygen1 must be appreciable by every physiologist4 ,and it is not without interest to observe1 that the period when such change would be thus indicated by the first appearance of birds in the ,wealden strata1 is likewise characterized by the prevalence of those dinosaurian reptiles1 which in structure most nearly approach mammalia1 and which in all probability1 from their correspondence with crocodiles in the anatomy of the thorax1 enjoyed a circulation as complete as that of the crocodile when breathing freely on dry land40 ,again1 it is conjectured--8,the first indications of the warm-blooded classes would appear1 if introduced into the reptilian era1 under the form of such small insectivorous mammals as are known at the present day to have a lower amount of respiration than the rest of the class2 and the earliest discovered remains of mammalia1--as1 for example1 those in the ,stonesfield oolite1--are actually the jaws of such species1 with which are combined the characters of that order1 ,marsupialia1 which is most nearly related to the oviparous vertebrata40 ,it has been seen that igneous and aqueous agents have remodeled1 from time to time1 the physical geography of the globe4 ,can it admit of a doubt that changes in the physical structure of the earth's surface will be accompanied with other changes in the organic productions of extensive areas8 ,species1 it is well known1 both of plants and animals1 are limited to particular localities of variable1 and often of no great1 extent4 ,if marine1 an alteration in the sea bottom will prove fatal to many4 ,if terrestrial1 an increase of altitude1 the conversion of dry land into marshes and lakes1 or of lakes and marshes into meadow and arid loamy soil1 will completely alter the flora and fauna of the district in question4 ,look into any estuary or rocky pool along the shore of the ocean1 swarming with testacea1 and crustacea2 every bowlder incrusted with corallines2 the rocks carpeted all over with fuci1 waving with every ripple their long graceful branches1 or smoothing and polishing their sides in the violent currents2 creeping things1 too1 innumerable shy stealthy creatures1 darting amid the shingle1 or burrowing in the sands2 and the finny tribes1 of all forms1 glancing and sparkling like living gems in the dark green thickets4 ,this is one description only of tens of thousands of such phenomena around the islands of ,great ,britain4 ,an elevation of a few feet1 and what myriads of animals1 whose only habitat are these ocean caves1 would perish1 and their races be forever blotted from the things that were6 ,these shores have witnessed many such upheavals4 ,not a plain1 hill1 or rock1 in the whole continent of ,europe1 but once formed the bed of the sea4 ,even now1 what a vast influence does mineralogical structure alone exercise over the economy of life1 both as to the number of individuals and the character of species frequenting particular localities4 ,trees as well as plants have an adaptation to certain kinds of soil1 and once firmly rooted1 birds1 insects1 and creeping things1 will also resort thither in quest of shelter or of food4 ,aquatic fowl1 the waders and swimmers of our sea-shores1 have their favorite haunt among the breakers or calm bays1 whose submarine rocks furnish pasturage and shelter to molluscs1 crustaceans1 and fishes2 while1 again1 over the marshy1 the oozy1 the sandy1 the gravelly1 or the rocky beach1 other families1 both terrestrial and marine1 maintain their respective ascendency4 ,m4 ,agassiz is just now pursuing his favorite researches in exploring the lakes and rivers of ,america1 where he has already detected many things new and old to enlighten the western savans in the boundless riches of their mighty dominions4 ,he has succeeded in capturing1 on ,lake ,superior1 species of fishes hitherto unnamed4 ,he has likewise been able to dredge up from the same deep waters1 specimens of the garpike 7,lepidosteus71 whose representatives have been found in the oldest palozoic deposits1 and in the deposits of all succeeding times4 ,suppose these lakes to be suddenly drained of their waters--and which1 according to the chronometrical details of ,niagara1 must one day come to pass--and many species of animals and plants would cease to exist1 not merely by the violence of the action1 but by the simple alteration of the aqueous character of the districts4 ,many animals1 indeed1 will be able to escape1 and to betake themselves to other localities amidst slow or even rapid superficial changes4 ,the camels and antelopes of the desert may sink under the sirocco and be buried in the sand2 but1 in other circumstances1 they will be able to bear up and carry themselves to fertile lands1 as the steady1 irresistible march of the sand-flood invades their former pastures4 ,the ,sahara of ,africa has been gradually extending and widening in its desolating sterility1 until it now covers a region of about #ehb1jjj square miles2 how many1 in consequence1 of the vegetable and animal races1 have thus been deprived of their appropriate nutriment1 and become extinct8 ,how many examples of similar devastations1 but upon a far greater scale1 does almost every one of the geological epochs furnish8 ,the central region of ,france abounded with lakes1 attracting to their arborescent banks the huge pachyderms of the tertiary age1 when the ,auvergne cones blazed out1 pouring floods of lava over lake1 marsh1 and plain2 and thus obliterating and silting up entire races1 the great and the small1 terrestrial and lacustrine1 and now constituting the pictorial wonders of the age that produced1 and the convulsions that destroyed them4 ,there is reason to believe that species in the ancient world were possessed of a wider geographical range than in after periods4 ,but the causes of extirpation were also of wider operation4 ,the old formations are all greater than the new1 receding in extent as they descend in time4 ,and if we are to regard alterations of climate1 changes in the constituents of the atmosphere1 subsidence of land and elevation of sea-bottom1 intrusion of igneous rocks1 the escape and circulation of noxious gaseous matter1 as among the causes which have led to the extinction of the successive organic tribes in the several geological epochs1 so do we find the effects approximating to a scale of corresponding magnitude4 ,but the real terms and boundaries of all are in the hands of ,him who made them4 ,we see but a part1 and know only in part1 of the secondary means of destruction4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,time1 ,,and ,,the ,,geological ,,epochs4 ,the speculations of geology respecting the arrangement and position of the mineral masses of the earth are matters of direct observation1 falling immediately under the cognizance of the senses1 and whose verifications are both numerous and conclusive4 ,but a question thereupon arises which is not so easily dealt with1 namely1 as to the periods of time that have elapsed during the various successive epochs or formations described4 ,looking at the current operations of the laws of nature1 and supposing their uniformity in past ages1 a scale of increment is laid down for the several deposits of which the earth's crust is composed4 ,an approximation is made as to the number of years required for each1 and the result is1 that the geological estimate embraces an inconceivably lengthened and bewildering series4 ,the calculation proceeds not by hundreds1 or thousands1 but by millions of the terms of our numerical notation3 and1 as the fossiliferous strata alone are reckoned at about seven or eight miles in thickness1 the time that has elapsed since the first appearance of life upon the planet1 has also been made a matter of measurement4 ,accuracy as to any precise definite amount1 is not1 indeed1 pretended2 but no estimate1 it is said1 made upon purely geological data1 falls short of vast enormous periods1 which will only bear to be compared with the cycles of astronomical phenomena1 and not with the brief fleeting days of man's existence4 ,what account1 then1 is to be made of this reckoning according to the popular opinions respecting the origin of the world8 ,will it be accepted by the ,christian1 who confides in the ,mosaic chronology of the work of creation8 ,what is that chronology8 ,can the geological and the sacred be compared or reconciled with one another8 ,i4 ,there is one important deduction to be established from these investigations which meets us at the threshold of the inquiry1 namely1 that geology clearly and distinctly shows there is a ,,beginning to the course of creation as respects the crust of the earth and its organic forms of life4 ,the stratified rocks all manifest succession in their order of deposition1 and1 therefore1 also succession in time4 ,some are prior to and older in formation than others2 and all of every class and quality1 demonstrate principles of arrangement in conformity with law and design4 ,we never1 for example1 get back to a period1 however deep we go into the interior1 in which we find the matter of the earth assuming1 as it were1 different modes of existence1 or arranging itself according to affinities of which we have no experience4 ,over every material substance1 the rocks of the oldest as of the newest formation1 the same physical forces are seen to be operative4 ,the granites1 with all the molten amorphous masses of every age1 are composed of ingredients brought together and aggregated in proportional quantities1 and according to definite principles of attraction4 ,but throughout the whole series and succession of deposits1 we never come to a point at which matter has been formless1 or free from the operation of law1 endlessly quiescent1 or when no controlling designing hand was rendering it plastic and obedient to its will4--,as with the arrangements of matter1 therefore1 so likewise with its origin4 ,we revert in both cases to a necessarily prior cause4 ,and geology1 vast and inconceivably great as may be its cycles1 proclaims over all its past antecedents and depths of accumulation1 that ,,time1 not eternity1 is indelibly recorded4 ,this truth is rendered still more apparent and intelligible1 when we consider the various families of plants and animals of which the earth has been the theater4 ,these organic structures at once speak to the mind of creative interference4 ,no principle that we know of inherent in nature could1 of itself1 originate these forms4 ,the first thing of life indicates an intelligent ,creator4 ,but epoch after epoch passes away1 and along with them their living tribes generally perish4 ,succeeding races1 of different characters and habits1 are called into existence4 ,the earth is again peopled--again to be swept of all its garniture--the land and ocean to change places--creatures of another mold1 suited to both1 again to be brought into existence4 ,these phenomena all speak1 not only of a beginning1 of successive periods of time1 but also of direct superintendence over the course of events from age to age4 ,it is the same with the formations themselves in which the organic things are imbedded4 ,the course of creation progresses1 but always under such breaks and renewals as clearly to manifest1 that the same power which watches over the organic1 is operative also in respect of the inorganic structures of the earth4 ,various are the genera and species of once animate forms1 imbedded in the different strata beneath our feet2 but equally various are the strata themselves2 as a new race arises1 so are there new forms of rocks produced along with them4 ,and when we compare the two extremes of the fossiliferous strata1 the silurian and the tertiary1 or any of the intermediate--the old red sandstone and the oolites1 the carboniferous and the chalk--we find that the rocks are just as various in quality1 structure1 and appearance1 as are the animals which existed and perished during their respective epochs4 ,the lines of demarkation are distinct4 ,they may sometimes run into each other1 so as to leave it doubtful where the one series ends and the other begins2 but so it is with the organic remains themselves1 a few of an antecedent epoch living into and invading the province of another1 when the limit is reached1 and the family altogether disappears4 ,the same law holds in the great mineral masses of the earth's crust4 ,rocks are of different families1 even as plants and animals are2 and over the entire surface of the globe1 they display in their various suites such changes and diversities as demonstrate an interfering hand and a new creative energy4 ,indeed1 there is1 it may be avowed1 a much greater diversity of type in the mineral groups themselves than in their organisms1 the living genera and species of one formation differing1 often1 less from each other than do the rocky matrices in which their remains are imbedded4 ,,ii4 ,but1 in estimating the time that elapsed during the formation of the various sedimentary strata1 are geologists warranted in assuming such principles of calculation as have been adopted8--,there are two aspects under which the subject may be approached--the one1 as respects the formative process of rocks--the other1 the probable duration of life in the different epochs1 or rather1 as connected with the formations which indicate the epochs4 #a4 ,,of ,,the ,,formative ,,process4 ,how long the earth existed before being brought into a habitable condition for either vegetable or animal bodies1 geology has no means of determining4 ,the primary crystalline beds are the oldest rocks of which we have any knowledge3 we can penetrate at least to no antecedent matter1 bearing the record of its own age1 out of which these rocks were produced4 ,we are warranted1 therefore1 in accounting for their origin1 to remount at once to the initial creative act which called them into being1 and the presumption is1 that no great length of time was occupied in this arrangement4 ,the ,divine will commanded1 every particle obeyed1 and all took their places4 ,the eruptive rocks are of comparatively sudden growth3 they are not the result of a gradual deposition1 but of igneous fusion in the interior of the earth1 and elevated to the surface through the operation of forces of rapid activity4 ,how long our planet was in thus assuming form1 and the dry land appearing1 we have no certain means of judging1 except by looking to the end of its creation1 and assuming that the 8void0 was not permitted indefinitely to continue4 ,the occupancy of life at once exalts the work and illustrates its purpose4 ,the fossiliferous strata were formed in different circumstances and under different conditions1 when the course of nature1 if we may so speak1 was fully established1 and the train of events under the operation of physical law commenced its onward march4 ,the oldest of the fossiliferous deposits is the ,silurian4 ,it likewise constitutes one of the greatest depth1 as well as of extent1 on the surface of the globe4 ,the position1 generally1 of the silurian beds1 is along the line of the great mountain-chains1 except in ,russia1 where they spread over the interior1 and thin out into smaller dimensions1 and where1 from the absence of the intrusive rocks1 they are only semi-indurated4 ,this system of rocks was1 therefore1 formed in circumstances the most favorable for rapid accumulation1 amidst such primal operations of nature as have never been repeated upon the same scale of magnitude4 ,the first shaping-out1 if we may so speak1 of the earth's surface1 in the elevation of its mountain-ranges and corresponding depressions of the sea-bottom1 bears all the marks of a single cotemporaneous act1 not completed in a moment of time indeed1 but continued through a period of unparalleled spasmodic agency4 ,every region shared in the convulsive movements1 and the whole earth1 in one and the same age1 was begirt with mountains4 ,these violent throes were accompanied everywhere with violent action upon the already consolidated masses4 ,disintegration would keep pace upon them with the rate of uprise4 ,and as the bare jagged rocks unprotected with herbage1 friable and just rending from the fire1 were lifted suddenly above the waters1 the waters in turn would dash violently upon their sides and broken serrated crests1 and so become as rapidly filled again with all the waste and spoils of the period4 ,the changes now going on1 and the rate of increment of the land above sea-level1 the occasional appearance and disappearance of an island1 the slow but constant action of the waves upon the coast1 and the detrital matter borne down by the rivers1 can be no measure of the effects of forces and agencies such as were then in operation4 ,the ,mississippi1 within a quarter of a century1 it has been ascertained1 brings down little more than a half of its former spoils4 ,the organic remains1 accordingly1 which have survived the silurian period1 belong chiefly to the molluscous classes1 and thin filmy fucoid vegetables2 the structures1 in short1 which were best calculated to live during the period in question1 and to remain undestroyed throughout its agitations4 ,the old red sandstone series is likewise of vast extent1 both in depth and superficial area4 ,the scale of its mass corresponds with the scale of the forces which produced it--the magnificent operations amidst which it was accumulated4 ,this was a period of great and frequent trappean eruption4 ,hence the conglomerate red offers a splendid specimen of rapid formation4 ,this member of the devonian suite consists of large masses of gneiss1 quartz1 mica-slate1 and hornblende rock1 cemented in a paste of silicious sand1 probably the debris of dissolved granite4 ,the included portions bear all the marks of attrition1 of violent tossing about in a troubled sea4 ,estimate the thickness of the whole deposit at its maximum of nearly ten thousand feet--consider what vast agencies were still at work1 in tearing up and carrying off the spoils of the mountains--probably with but little pause or intermission in the violence of the action--and thus1 not so much in the light of remote antecedents as of comparatively associated formations1 will we be warranted in regarding these early courses in the work of creation4 ,the fishes of the period all speak of its spasmodic character1 mailed1 plated1 and completely inclosed in strong horny integuments2 their heads1 some of them1 of entire uncovered bone1 and their caudal fins propelling with the whole force of the vertebral column1--conditions of structure which give indications of the stormy seas whose waves they had to buffet1 and of the conserving properties by which their forms and outlines have been transmitted to us so wonderfully entire4 ,the carboniferous class of rocks have all the marks of a very peculiar formation1 constructed for a special purpose1 and elaborated amidst an extraordinary state of things4 ,here we meet with vast accumulations of vegetable1 calcareous1 and metallic substances1 for which we detect no anterior preparations4 ,the coming on and the outgoing of the whole coal series are as distinct as they are surprising4 ,to what are we to compare them8 ,by what scale of time are we to adjust the terms of their growth8 ,proceeding upon the existing laws of nature1 calculations have been made as to the rate of increase1 for a year1 of pure vegetable matter1 over a given area4 ,the ,ganges1 ,nile1 ,amazon1 ,mississippi1 ,la ,plata1 and the other mighty rivers of the earth1 have been appealed to as to the quantities with which they are annually charged4 ,the forests1 with their load of every revolving season1 have been weighed1 when their decadence of leaves1 fruits1 branches1 and all the gatherings from the flood and storm have been duly taken into account4 ,the result is1 according to this method of solving the problem1 that about six hundred thousand years were occupied in the production of the whole coal series4--,it must be admitted1 in any attempt to reduce this number1 that the violent forces of the antecedent periods cannot be admitted as data of circulation2 throughout the whole of the carboniferous era1 a state of repose seems to have universally prevailed4 ,but then all the living productive powers of nature were just as violently in operation as the others were quiescent1 and the result in the one case bears a proportion to the result in the other4 ,if inorganic matter was rapidly collected by the action of violent causes1 so under an extraordinary state of things1 of climate1 moisture1 atmosphere1 and other physical arrangements1 organized bodies1 vegetable and animal1 would multiply as rapidly4 ,a condition of nature that produced uniformity of vegetation over the entire surface of the globe1 as the coal deposit everywhere manifests1 and all of gigantic dimensions in every family of plants1 is not merely to be denominated tropical1 and its results calculated by a scale of existing weights and measures4 ,in many places of the earth1 even now1 several harvests are reaped within the year4 ,who can set bounds to their number1 or guess the prodigious increase1 when the whole earth was covered with a flora1 not only of unrivaled exuberance1 but of uniform distribution nearly on every part of its surface8 ,but a test of indisputable value1 for ascertaining the rate of increase in the sandstones and shales embraced within the coal-measures1 occurs in the case of those fossil trees which are so frequently found in an upright position1 or but little inclined to the plane of stratification4 ,these are numerous in every coal-field1 and are often traced through several layers or beds of rock4 ,the fossil trees of ,craigleith and ,granton were about fifty feet in length1 and lying at an angle of scarcely twenty degrees to the strata in which they were imbedded4 ,their passage through the solid rock1 therefore1 cannot be estimated at less than fifteen to twenty feet1 that is1 a mass of sandstone of corresponding depth must have been formed1 during the comparatively short period that trees of lofty stature were able to resist the destroying action of the elements1 to say nothing of the chances of currents1 hurricanes1 and other agents breaking them in pieces4 ,this instantia crucis may be extended to every sandstone bed of the formation1 and thus serve to exercise a salutary restraint upon the mind in its imaginary conceptions of the enormous periods of time required for the accumulation of the whole series4 ,the carboniferous epoch was immediately succeeded by a period of great violence and of vast disturbance in the solid crust of the earth4 ,hence the broken inclined position of the coal strata1 and the injection of so much igneous matter1 forming often ridges and hills of considerable elevation4 ,the new red sandstone1 the overlying deposits1 would share in all the activity of the time4 ,a celerity of increase1 on a scale of more rapid accumulation than existing causes could produce1 must consequently fall to be admitted to the rocks of this family3 so much1 indeed1 was the plutonic agency then in force1 that the rock-salt and gypseous beds are ascribed to its influence4 ,from this period downward1 the formations are all of more contracted dimensions1 the basins narrowing in superficial area to the upper tertiaries1 which partake of the character of local rather than of universal deposits2 while the evidences here are innumerable that1 until the globe settled into its present form1 and assumed its present arrangement of seas1 continents1 and mountains1 the land and water were continually changing places1 the crust and framework subject to constant upheaval4 ,the ,cordilleras and ,himalaya constituted1 in those days1 the bed of the ocean4 ,what law of nature was not in violent activity ere they attained their sublime altitudes6 ,how many rivers changed their courses6 how many mountains were washed to their summits6 how many hills melted like wax at the voice of their ,creator1 amidst convulsions which swept the earth so repeatedly of its living tribes1 and bared as often the bosom of the great deep6 ,we have not1 in this enumeration of the mineral strata of the earth's crust1 as yet spoken of any of the calcareous deposits4 ,they are very numerous1 some of them of prodigious thickness1 and belong to the formations of every epoch4 ,there is not one1 but many1 alternations of limestone connected with every such formation4 ,whence the source of all this material8 ,the primary beds are not in sufficient mass to have furnished supplies for every succeeding age4 ,the mountain limestone alone1 of the middle secondary epoch1 contains more calcareous matter than is to be found in the three antecedent periods4 ,the lias1 oolites1 and chalks are likewise of vast thickness4 ,the beds of the tertiary group are less considerable2 but in the gypseous marls1 and numerous alternating bands throughout the clays and sands of the formation1 there is the clearest evidence that the stores of nature were still abundant4 ,nor are they yet exhausted4 ,what supplies in every river1 sea1 and ocean of the world6 ,what countless myriads of living animals are now employed in elaborating the material6 ,and when we again inquire1 whence is it all8 the answer is1 that throughout all time1 a wise and bountiful ,providence has thereby provided the pabulum for its successive creations of organized bodies--the law of their nature is to pile up rocks--and in all the monuments of the past1 we discern the style and architecture of the builders of the present4 ,look1 then1 to your still active1 living1 working chronometer4 ,with what incredible swiftness do these minute creatures ply their labors6 how many fathoms of coral reef will they rear in a season6 ,when the hapless mariner returns1 after a brief short interval1 what hazards to run from structures which now for the first time appall him with their formidable barriers6 ,millions of years6 ,not even thousands are needed to construct islands1 and to pillar the floor of the ocean1 over vast expanded areas1 with broad1 massive1 indurated rock4#ac #b4 ,,the ,,probable ,,duration ,,of ,,life ,,in ,,the ,,different ,,epochs4 ,the geologist will tell us not to look at one but at the various families1 of all kinds and of all habits1 which his science has brought to light1 and so many of whose remains he has disinterred from the earth4 ,every formation abounds with them4 ,they flourished through every epoch4 ,the epochs are many4 ,the tribes which existed and perished in them are many4 ,to allow time for the coming in and the going out1 and the fulfillment of their various destinies1 what an untold1 incalculable amount of ages must have elapsed6 ,now1 give the millions of years supposed1 and the wonder some may not hesitate to confess is1 that there are so few1 and not so many1 of the former creatures of the earth which have re-appeared in our geological catalogues4 ,the fossil regions of ,great ,britain1 an epitome of the world1 have been well explored1 and the statement of fact stands nearly as follows3--,leaving out of consideration all the shelly and lime-building tribes1 the numbers of the other families of animals hitherto found and described are1 in the various groups of the silurian system1 eight genera of only one order of fishes2 in the devonian1 of two orders1 there are under forty genera1 and not many more species of fishes1 in the carboniferous1 of three orders1 there are about fifty genera1 and a hundred species of fishes2 in the permian and triassic1 of three orders1 there are twenty genera1 and fifty species of fishes and reptiles2 in the oolitic1 of four orders1 there are sixty genera1 and two hundred and twenty species of fishes1 reptiles1 and mammals2 in the wealden1 there are1 of three orders1 twenty-five genera1 and thirty-eight species of fishes and reptiles2 in the cretaceous1 of six orders1 there are fifty genera1 and eighty species of fishes1 reptiles1 and birds2 in the tertiaries1 of seven orders1 the genera are about one hundred and fifty1 and two hundred and twenty species of fishes1 reptiles1 birds1 and mammals3 thus making in all about four hundred genera1 and seven hundred species of the larger families of living creatures during the whole currency of the geological epochs4 ,the current epoch contains1 exclusive of microscopic organisms1 nearly two millions of species of vegetable and animal bodies existing on the terraqueous globe2 and of which there are about eight thousand species of fish alone existing in our present seas4 ,when we take1 instead of ,great ,britain1 the whole explored geological field of the world1 the result1 so far as the argument is concerned1 will be strengthened1 not weakened4 ,the formations of other lands are simply1 with slight variations1 a repetition of our own4 ,the same genera of animals are everywhere prevalent4 ,the specific types are likewise in many instances identical4 ,the silurian organisms of ,russia are so like those in our own island1 that 8no ,english geologist10 says ,murchison1 8acquainted with the organic contents of the ,wenlock limestone1 can view the ,calymena ,blumenbachii1 ,c4 macrophthalma1 ,c4 variolaria1 and other ,trilobites associated with the ,leptna depressa1 ,l4 euglypha1 ,terebratula reticularis1 and many corals most familiar to him1 without at once recognizing in the upper strata the distinct representative of that ,british formation40 ,various other fossiliferous identities are farther alluded to1 when it is added--8,in taking leave of ,scandinavia1 we must specially advert to the close relations which exist between its lower and upper silurian groups1 and those of ,great ,britain and distant parts of the world4 ,of #acc silurian fossils which we brought back or noted on the spot1 at least eighty-four are ,british1 and from twenty-five to twenty-seven are ,north ,american species4 ,in this comparison the identity of the upper silurian groups of the ,baltic and ,great ,britain is1 indeed1 most surprising2 for1 among seventy-four ,scandinavian species1 upward of sixty are common to the strata of this age in both countries1 and of these1 fifteen to sixteen species are also found in the upper silurian rocks of ,america40 ,the devonian fossils are equally striking in their resemblances and extensive geographical distribution4 ,similar representatives are detected1 and still more abundantly1 in the carboniferous formation--universal specific types of the fauna of the epoch4 ,one remarkable instance has been stated--upon the authority of ,m4 ,l4 ,von ,buch--that the ,leptna lata1 so typical of the silurian rocks of ,britain1 is specifically the same with the ,leptna sarcinulata1 which is no less prevalent in the ,russian carboniferous strata1 and continued even throughout its uppermost members4 ,our field of review1 therefore1 contains a fair proportion of the various fossils of the world1 specific and generic4 ,the formations lying before us throughout our base-line1 give a true indication of the state and conditions of life during the several epochs1 while in number and variety of individual forms they are above the average4 ,need it then be urged1 that no such incalculable cycles of ages would be required for the whole of this catalogue of animals fulfilling in their several epochs their allotted destiny upon the earth8 ,compared with the mass of inorganic matter in which they are entombed1 their relics are literally as nothing4 ,only here and there1 of certain classes1 at remote intervals often1 there is a fossil or its impression4 ,and so entire and well-preserved are these organisms1 that we have reason to presume there has been no great obliteration1 absorption1 or utter waste of the races to which they belonged4 ,on the contrary1 as their distribution is so persistent in their respective formations throughout the globe1--the same genera and species being common to the four quarters of the world1--the presumption is1 that specimens of nearly all the tribes that ever dwelt on the earth or swarmed in its waters have been handed down to us2 and thus the number of the actual relics found becomes1 as it were1 a chronometer or measure of the ages during which they subsisted4 ,look again at the demands of geology4 ,upward of ,,sixteen ,,millions ,,of ,,years#ad are supposed to have elapsed since the creation of life upon the earth4 ,the lowest of the rocks1 in which that life has found its grave1 have been reached4 ,their contents1 upward1 have been examined and catalogued4 ,how many generations of animals must have subsisted within that period8 ,how many individual skeletons must have been entombed and preserved1 seeing that things of the filmiest texture1 plants and animals1 have been inclosed and handed down to us entire8 ,quadruple the ages of every one of the existing denizens of sea and land1 and still1 what countless millions of generations1 succeeding each other1 have lived and died during the eras that were to run8 ,geology presents us with her list1 her whole lengthened organic roll1 of scarcely four hundred generic1 and less than eight hundred specific forms1 gathered out of all the past cemeteries of the dead4 ,the cemeteries themselves1 of such vast walls and dimensions1 may1 according to the present mordant powers of the elements and the capacity of rivers for the transport of mud1 have required the calculations usually assigned for their erection4 ,but where1 the question will ever recur1 where is there anything like a corresponding amount of animal exuvi apart from the calcareous supplies1 to be found in the successive formations1 conforming in any approximation to the existing powers and capacities of parturient nature8 ,the fossil remains1 inclosed from the beginning to the end of the inconceivable cycles of time1 are the remains only of a few great families3 their skeletons are admirably preserved1 or their casts are minutely and accurately engraven on the rock2 and do they not look as if they were the identical individuals which rose in the dawn and were buried in the setting of their own geological epoch6 ,if we go still farther into details1 the results will be found startling enough4 ,let us select one of the periods1 the old red sandstone1 for illustrating our views4 ,the period assigned for this formation embraces a term of about1 we shall suppose1 according to the geological distribution of time1 a million or two of years4 ,this formation consists of three great subdivisions1 every one of which contains their distinct specific forms1 and hence their separation into the lower1 middle1 and upper groups4 ,this was pre-eminently the fish epoch--finners which roamed in undisturbed possession of every sea on the surface of the globe4 ,dropping into the waters1 and speedily silted up in the sands1 the skeletons were in the best of all possible circumstances for preservation2 and accordingly1 the specimens of the period constitute the wonder of the geologist1 for their enameled freshness and perfect outline of figure4 ,the productiveness of fish is prodigious1 the cod-fish multiplying at the rate of three millions and a-half1 mackerel at about half a million1 and most of the other tribes at a corresponding high ratio4 ,count now how many generations1 of every one of the species of the separate groups of the old red sandstone series1 would exist and multiply during a period of so many hundred thousand years4 ,the modern epoch and its breeders have scarcely reached their six thousand4 ,when six times six have been added1 and sixty times more have been added to these1 they will still be a third short of the term allotted to the favored denizens of the olden time4 ,and where1 amidst the well-protected few that have yielded up their remains1 are the traces of the myriads upon myriads that perished and were buried along with them8 ,to the genus ,homo1 the head of creation1 few think of the earth1 as it now is1 being the abode for periods reckoned by millions of years4 ,nay1 within his as yet brief period1 how many of his cotemporaries have already passed from the stage1 extirpated1 many of them1 by his own direct agency8 ,the dodo1 and his fellow islander the solitaire1 and other brevipennate birds1--probably1 too1 the elk and the urus1--certainly from this island the beaver1 the wolf1 and the bear1 and just as certainly1 at no distant day1 the extinction of many other races will follow in the onward progress of civilization4 ,but as now1 so in all past ages1 superior power1 or a more dextrous instinct1 have led to their extirpation4 ,their destiny was fulfilled1 and the race perished4 ,and as we are reasoning upon the known laws of nature1 whence the geologist only seeks a footing for his vast cycles of time1 so1 we venture to affirm1 is he bound to abide by the test of his own selection1 and to read therein the terms of life granted to the families of earth4 ,the modern epoch shows the outgoing of genera as well as of species within the limited compass of a few thousand years--gives reasonable indications of the probable extinction1 speedily and at no distant period1 of hundreds of others1--these families possessed1 all of them1 of as enduring structures1 and of higher types of existence1 than those of the older epochs1--and1 therefore1 upon every fair ground of analogy1 are we justified in concluding that there can be no such diversity of ages1 under one and the same system of nature1 as that of hundreds of thousands of years to the living tribes of earth4 ,when such premises are made the grounds of such inferences1 and1 again1 when the geologist reiterates the statement that these great periods of time correspond wonderfully with the gradual increase of animal life1 and the successive creation and extinction of numberless orders of being1 and with the incredible quantity of organic remains buried in the crust of the earth1 we have just to remind him that betwixt great periods of time1 and the gradual increase of animal life1 there is no necessary connection4 ,however long and indefinite the time connected with the rocky formations1 certain it is that the successive organic tribes were created within a period that admits1 and can admit1 of no calculation whatever1 not even of any analogical illustration from experience or the known laws of nature4 ,the species1 however numerous1 of every epoch were called at once into being1 not gradually but instantly1 by the fiat of an all-creative act4 ,their multiplication and increase depended upon the law of their nature2 but how long they were to be privileged to multiply1 in one unvarying specific form1 according to that law1 is a point that comes legitimately within the range of experience and the calculations of existing life4 ,let not things which differ1 therefore1 be mixed together4 ,the organic and the inorganic types1 in the act of formation1 cannot be compared4 ,and no argument can be adduced from the fact of the mere numbers of animal species1 or of their individual increase1 in support of the assumed length of any geological epoch4 ,species as well as individuals have perished1 and gone out within the narrow limits of our own epoch1 and yet have multiplied in progeny through countless myriads4 ,the same course of argument applies to every one of the formations1 to some of them of vast thickness1 even more conclusively1 where we find the same species persistent throughout the group1 and the same genus often extending over two or three entire formations1 embracing periods of geological time of as many millions of years4 ,thus the ,leptna lata of the ,silurian age lives on to the close of the ,carboniferous2 the trilobite1 earliest of living creatures1 has its representatives still in our modern seas2 the mail-clad holoptychius existed through the whole of the ,devonian and ,carboniferous eras2 and equally remarkable is the fact that the ,onchus ,marchisoni1 the oldest fish yet detected in the rocks of the earth1 is a creature more allied to the existing genus ,spinax 7the dog-fish7 than to any other family of relics inclosed in all the intermediate ascending series of deposits4 ,among the infusoria it is ascertained that there' are two kinds of living ,gallionell identical with the fossil species in the ,richmond clays of ,virginia2 while again1 in geological botany1 we have all the types of the coal formation still flourishing with the sane gigantic forms in the continents and islands washed by the ,pacific4 #c4 ,,the ,,superficial ,,accumulations4 ,the argument of the geologists1 for their indefinite periods of time1 proceeds mainly upon the assumption that the present and the past operations of the laws of nature are nearly uniform2 or1 in other words1 that the existing rate of increment of detrital and alluvial matter1 in seas1 deltas1 and rivers1 is to be taken as the standard throughout the various geological epochs4 ,tried by the test of the superficial accumulations1 the subject is brought within a manageable compass1 the definite is substituted for the indefinite1 and the scale of accumulative power in the ancient will be in the ratio of its erosive and transporting agency in the modern epoch4 ,the products of volcanoes also fall to be considered in estimating the effects of causes now in operation4 ,the bowlder clay comes first and legitimately within the scope of this estimate2 for1 whatever theory of its formation be adopted1 whether by the sudden submergence of a vast arctic continent and consequent upbreaking of the icy regions of the polar seas1 by the sweep of a universal deluge1 or a violent upheaval of the bed of the ocean1 certain it is that the materials were brought together by rapid spasmodic action4 ,this deposit covers the whole of ,northern ,europe1 much of ,asia1 and extends over the vast continent of ,north ,america1 as far as the #db of latitude3 it varies from a hundred to several hundred feet in depth3 and thus1 so far as quantity and extent of superficial area are concerned1 the bowlder clay formation may be compared with any of the older rocky formations of the interior4 ,but no geologist has ventured to speculate about an indefinite cycle of years1 as the condition of the planet during the drift and accumulation of these rude and plastic materials4 ,the sands and gravels which succeed are likewise of great depth1 spread over extensive valleys1 and rise on the acclivities of hills five and six hundred feet above the level of the sea4 ,this may be regarded1 all of it1 as the collect of the current epoch2 and within the period of civilization and history and the arts1 what sand-floods have been carried to every quarter of the globe1 covering entire regions1 devastating cities1 and obliterating the very traces of man's dominion over countries once subject to his use4 ,nor would fossils be wanting to complete the analogy1 as the dunes along the shores of every continent1 and especially on the coast of the ,north ,sea in ,norway1 ,denmark1 ,holland and ,belgium1 only require consolidation in order to represent with living instead of extinct species1 the fossiliferous deposits of anterior times2 more particularly the ,molasse and ,nagelflue of the ,swiss ,alps4 ,near ,tours1 in ,france1 there is a bed of oyster-shells which is twenty-seven miles long1 with a corresponding breadth1 and twenty feet thick4 ,and in the ,united ,states there are beds far exceeding this3 a stratum1 nearly continuous1 has been traced from the ,eutaw ,springs in ,south ,carolina1 to the ,chickasaw country--being six hundred miles in length by ten to a hundred miles in breadth4 ,when we descend from the land to the sea we find equally extensive accumulations1 spread over the bottom1 or raised along the tide-level in the form of bars1 shoals1 and banks4 ,the whole eastern coast of the ,united ,states#ae is bordered throughout by a line of sand-banks and islands1 of various forms and outline1 but very uniform in their mineral ingredients1 being composed for the most part of a fine1 white1 and quartzose sand4 ,on the coasts of the southern states1 the ,carolinas and ,virginia1 they form a chain of low islands1 separated from the coast by a series of lagoons2 while higher up1 on the southern coasts of ,new ,england1 they occur as submarine ridges1 parallel to the coast1 and separated from each other by wide channels4 ,to the north1 these arenaceous deposits are still more extensive1 forming vast submarine plateaux1 such as the ,st4 ,george and ,newfoundland banks4 ,and at the bottom of all the bays and creeks of that much indented land1 prodigious siltings are going forward1 not under the form of narrow ridges1 but as broad connected strata or flats2 consisting seaward of very fine sand1 and more inward of a coarse gravel1 and in not a few instances of calcareous mud1 where the deposit takes place in the vicinity of coral reefs4 ,the same processes are in operation around every island and by the shores of every continent where tidal action favors the deposition of the materials--the result as now ascertained1 not so much of rivers1 as of oceanic currents4 ,the depth of these sands it is impossible to determine2 but thousands of feet may not reach their soundings4 ,and as to organic remains1 they are most favorably situated and composed for attracting and sustaining every kind of marine creature3 it is upon the banks that border the coast of ,north ,america that the most extensive fisheries are carried on1 because these are the abodes of those myriads of invertebral animals--the molluscs1 annelides1 and zoophytes1 types of the older formations--which serve for the food of fishes1 the ctenoids and cycloids of maritime enterprise4 ,and thus1 co-extensive with the littoral territories of the ocean1 we have all the elements and ingredients of a ,,formation1 completing within the human epoch1 that may almost rival the ,old ,red ,sandstone itself4 ,nor does the analogy terminate in the production1 whether of one or many beds1 of sand and gravel deposits4 ,simultaneously with these1 there will be siltings and accumulations of various kinds of materials arranging themselves1 at different depths1 over the bottom of the ocean4 ,the beds1 too1 will have their edges slid over each other1 and where maintaining a degree of parallelism1 the inclination of the more remote members of the suite will correspond with the increasing depth of the sea bottom4 ,then the imbedded remains will be as various as the different kinds1 genera1 and species of animals that frequent the different localities2 nor will eruptive matter be always wanting to give diversity to the scene1 indurating1 dislocating1 and disarranging the relative position of the deposits3 ,until we have formed1 within our present seas1 the whole complement of a geological formation--the calcareous1 muddy1 sandy1 gravelly suites1 cotemporaneous in origin and growth1 with all their diversity of fossils1 living and imbedded at the same period--some beds consisting entirely of microscopic or other marine bodies--some composed of vegetable and other mixed materials--some where the land and waters have mingled their spoils together--and all to be united and agglutinated into one great composite system by the dykes and eruptions of submarine volcanoes4 ,these processes are all now in active operation2 and1 without straining the argument1 the clear undeniable inference is1 that1 as the amount of materials accumulated and arranged in the modern1 so will be the ratio of increase in the more ancient periods of the earth's history and revolutions4 ,and hence thousands1 not millions of years1 would1 upon such inductions1 be the scale of reckoning as to time4 ,but to state the argument in this form is vastly to underrate the forces of nature in the primeval times4 ,there are1 on the contrary1 the strongest reasons for believing that the two classes of phenomena can bear no proportion to each other1 either as to the manner of or the periods occupied in their formation4 ,the bulk of dry land1 compared with water1 was then1 as all geological appearances testify1 perhaps only a twentieth instead of a third part1 as now1 of the supermarine area of the globe4 ,how infinitely greater1 therefore1 would be the action of the waters over all the materials subject to their disintegrating power1 whether upon the islands and continents already raised above their waves1 or upon the immense submarine tracks of rock just lifting up their peaks and waiting to be elevated into air8 ,nor in alluding to volcanic products can we fail to perceive how immensely inferior are the modern to those of the palozoic ages1 when all the great mountain-ranges were bursting into position2 the ,american continent1 not as now with a few isolated eruptive centers1 but rending all over1 as the mighty ,andes and ,cordilleras were rising above the deep and assuming outline2 and in every quarter of the globe the plutonic1 erosive1 and denuding agencies were upon a scale of corresponding magnitude4 ,leibnitz1 in his 8,protoga10 has long ago anticipated these views1 where1 in the masterly sketch of his leading geological canons1 he distinctly refers to the more intensive energy with which physical causes must have acted in primordial times2 and considers that these disruptions of the earth's crust1 from the disturbances communicated to the incumbent waters1 must have been attended with diluvial action on the largest scale4 ,the maxim secut inundationes1 thereby occasioned1 had produced their natural effects1 when the period of repose succeeded--the quiescentibus causis1 atque aequilibratis1 consistentior emergeret rerum status1 as he so beautifully describes one out of many recurring stages of paroxysm and repose during the ,course of ,creation4 ,whatever views may be adopted on this momentous question1 ,i shall conclude by observing that it is not necessary1 in support of the one here advocated1 to assume that the secondary causes which have produced the geological phenomena referred to1 were different in kind from those in operation at the present day4 ,but it is asserted that such physical causes must have been immensely increased1 in the degree and intensity of their action1 by the very different condition of the planet1 and the circumstances under which1 in consequence1 they began to operate4 ,as to the millionade doctrine1 if ,i may so term it1 there are in every view the greatest difficulties in the way of its adoption1--errors of calculation somewhere to be corrected1 inconsistencies to be reconciled1 conditions of organic life gratuitously assumed and to be rectified4 ,it matters not1 indeed1 whether we take the organic or the inorganic structures of the several periods as the gauge of their probable duration--the living tribes that existed throughout such periods1 and whose relative ages we can approximate to--or the dead rock in which the remains are interred1 and in the accumulation and arrangement of which so many extraordinary agencies have been demonstratively concerned4 ,the laws of nature1 in the one case1 are nearly uniform2 species as well as individuals have their limited terms of existence2 and experience establishes the fact1 that the living tribes of the modern epoch have1 in several instances1 become extinct within a comparatively short period of time4 ,the operations of nature1 in the other case1 are subject to vast diversity1 great and sudden changes1 and apparently limited by no ascertained maximum of development4 ,and thus combined1 so far as our present state of knowledge extends1 the inference is warrantable1 that in the geological register the error may be one--of ,,millions of years' reckoning6 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,mosaic ,,record--,,account ,,of ,,creation4 ,the conclusion attempted to be established by the preceding mode of reasoning1 is not of the kind1 nor will it be so satisfactory as1 many desiderate4 ,the sacred chronology1 according to the common interpretation1 remains as it was2 and no harmony can thus be established betwixt it and the deductions of geology4 ,bring down the epochs to thousands instead of millions of years1 and still the ,,days of ,scripture are not explained4 ,the historical and the scientific accounts of the course of creation are just where they were1 the one based on the word of its ,author1 the other resting on rash or doubtful interpretations of the phenomena of nature4 ,leave us1 says the geologist1 to grope our own way3 mystical as our records are1 we disturb no established truth1 and imagination delights to lose itself in the far-distant past4 ,let not1 says the divine1 the speculations of a new science--a science of yesterday--be mixed up with more important matters of religion3 we are within the sacred precincts of revelation1 and our oracles give forth no dubious meanings--no isoteric doctrines for the initiated only4 ,the marvels of geology certainly are1 in every view that can be taken of them1 deeply interesting to the mind4 ,the volume of creation1 read in the light of its discoveries1 is traced back through pages which have been long hid from day2 and these now make known to us a story of life and death1 of activities and enjoyments1 of catastrophes and revolutions1 which surpass in wonder the inventions of the mere romance writer1 or all that regulated genius can pour 8from pictured urn0 of her most fascinating lore4 ,but be the time occupied in the elaboration of these records what it may1 the records themselves have an actual being1 and a language of intelligence indelibly impressed upon them4 ,they are genuine1 authentic documents of their author4 ,they may be misinterpreted4 ,inferences may be deduced from them for which there is no warrant2 constructions put upon passages which they will not legitimately bear2 or the true key of the volume1 in its great leading truths1 may not as yet have been found4 ,still the work is of ,god1 wholly and entirely the writing of his own hand4 ,revelation is also ,his work2 and1 claiming to be from the same authority as the other1 rests its pretensions to be received as an authentic document upon the ground of creation4 ,it gives details1 and enters into explanations of the nature and origin of creation2 and it declares that the same ,divine ,being who made the heavens and the earth1 has also recorded their history and revealed his will to man4 ,it is by no mere casualty1 therefore1 or as a matter of indifference1 that the ,bible commences its narrative by an account of creation4 ,that account is there as the foundation of one of its own claims to belief1 testifying to its credibility that it is of ,god2 that ,he placed it there1 not as a skillful writer would do his preface1 but because of the fact1 that the invisible things of his nature are to be seen and understood by the things which are made4--,what is thus declared upon the subject of creation1 is likewise liable to misinterpretation4 ,it may not be read aright4 ,but of the account itself there can be no question1--that it is given as a real1 as it ever must be regarded a true one1 of the ,divine operations4 ,in order1 therefore1 to arrive at any just conclusions respecting the comparison to be instituted betwixt the geological and the revealed account of creation1 we shall first inquire into the kind1 as well as amount1 of information contained in the ,mosaic record4 ,the rendering of the term 8day0 will then fall to be considered in relation to the order of events indicated in both accounts4 ,i4 ,the narrative proceeds with a fullness and minuteness of detail1 which clearly show a purpose in the writer4 ,did ,moses actually mean to trace the whole of creation in its primordial course and outline8 ,assuming that he did1 the phraseology is pointed and admirably suited to its subject4 ,admitted into the presence-chamber of the ,creator1 he sees the instruments with which he works1 the rapidity with which he executes1 the subserviency of all being to his will1 the arrangement and disposition of all things at his pleasure4 ,knowing1 as we now do from the highest authority1 what was the work of creation1 and whence it originated1 the intelligent mind discerns also the suitableness of the description1 and the ,divine selection of words employed to record it4 ,there is inspiration in the pencil1 as well as omnipotence in the hand1 which traced out the plan of creation1 and brought it into existence4 ,the ,cause willed1 and the effect immediately was1--,,in ,,the ,,beginning ,,god ,,created ,,the ,,heaven ,,and ,,the ,,earth4 ,here1 betwixt ,god and his work there are no intermediate agencies1--no pause or rest in the act of coming into being4 ,a material universe is designed1 and the substance of it is instantly produced4 ,the inspired historian proves that he was inspired1 by the brevity of the history of the event1 by the employment of words so perfectly adapted to the nature of the act4 ,he proves farther1 that we have here indicated the precise course of creation1 and that he meant so to represent it--that the heavens and the earth are of one and the same act--that the physical universe1 through all its dominions and remotest spheres1 started at one and the same time into being4 ,the sun1 moon1 and stars were now all formed1 as well as our own planet4 ,the stellar systems were everywhere arranged2 and the worlds of matter had their places all assigned them through infinite space4 ,this part of the ,divine actings must not be confounded with the farther evolution of creation as described in the work of the fourth day1 which has reference manifestly to the division of time and the appointment of the seasons1 through the revolution of the planetary worlds4 ,the condition of the earth as it first came from the hand of its framer is next alluded to4 ,it was 8without form and void10 and involved in darkness2 that is1 the arrangements necessary to constitute a habitable globe1 were not completed4 ,there was no diversity of surface--no division into hill and valley1 into seas and rivers2 the air1 the dry land1 and the waters1 had not yet assumed their respective places4 ,form was not yet stamped upon the matter of the globe4 ,consequently it was also ,,void1 or without inhabitants4 ,neither vegetables nor animals were there4 ,they could not exist before these necessary adaptations for life were adjusted4 ,let the reader note this stage of the work4 ,marking the precise1 definite phraseology of the inspired writer1 let him seriously reflect whether he has here before him the first state of the new world1 or the shapeless ruined aspect of one of its subsequent geological transformations8 ,none of the elements1 he will not fail to observe1 have been described as yet existing in separation4 ,the course of creation has not advanced so far2 and1 if it had done so1 no geologist pretends to assert1 that at the close of any one of his epochs1 the laws of nature were abolished1 and all things reverted to their pristine formless condition4 ,with what propriety1 then1 may it be asked1 can an opening be made in this part of the narrative wide enough to embrace1 or to have intercalated into it1 all the phases of an archaic earth under his numerous formations1 and the vast cycles of time in which they had been evolving8 ,the language employed admirably represents what we can well suppose the original physical state of the planet to have been2 and that state accords better with the first than with the last1 or any of the intermediate series of the geological changes4 ,and the earth was without form and void2 and darkness was upon the face of the deep2 and the ,spirit of ,god moved upon the face of the waters2 and thus gave shape and outline to the planetary mass4 ,the light was thereupon produced4 ,we are not told whence1 nor out of what4 ,like all the matter of the universe1 it started into being at the call of the ,creator1 suddenly1 as its own brilliant flashing emanations over the darkness at this hour4 ,then came day and night2 and this implies1 that there came along with them the revolution of the globe and the commencement of motion in the astral universe4 ,the production of a firmament or atmosphere is next alluded to1 and in immediate connection with this part of the work1 whereby a medium was provided for the diffusion of the light and the play of all that beauty and variety of coloring by which the earth was to be adorned4 8,and ,god said1 ,let there be light3 and there was light2 and ,god divided the light from the darkness4 ,and ,god called the light day1 and the darkness he called night4 ,and ,god said1 ,let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters1 and let it divide the waters from the waters40 ,light1 the subtilest and fleetest of all elements1 has nearly eluded every effort of man to detect or analyze its essence4 ,it travels swift as thought through infinite space4 ,it spreads its ethereal force over every opposing obstacle4 ,it gives brilliancy to the gem1 form to the crystal1 color to the flower1 health to animal life1 and is so indispensable to every existing condition of existing physical nature1 that1 were the mandate of its creation revoked1 we know just as much of its principle as to see in its annihilation a relapse into that state of chaos when all things were without form and void4 ,not only the beauty of organic structure1 but the molecular arrangement of the mineral mountain masses of the earth1 would1 in all probability1 have been an impossible condition of matter without the existence and agency of light4 ,and light1 whether glowing in the solar disc1 gleaming in remotest stars1 or breaking and sparkling in the rain-drop1 what revelation has science made of it beyond its properties of luster and activity8--,we trace its effects2 we discern its influence upon all bodies2 but when we would go deeper1 and seek to know it essentially and in itself1 we can only speak of it as the utterance of ,him who said1--,,let ,,there ,,be ,,light4 ,nor has science made any attempt1 at least no successful one1 to account for the origin of the atmosphere4 ,its constituent elements are known4 ,they are every day made the subject of direct experiment4 ,the solution and ascent of water in the air is also a matter of daily visible occurrence4 ,but by what process this great mass of impalpable fluid was brought together1 enveloping the entire earth1 and suspended as a curtain over our heads1 no ingenuity or dexterity of man has been able to determine4 ,there is no evidence by which to explain it upon the principles of natural law1 slowly elaborating the materials1 and piling them high in the starry vault4 ,the atmosphere1 indeed1 must ever stand in the original formation1 the result of the immediate creative act1 brought together in all its volume and vast incredible capacity of receiving and holding in its grasp the gaseous residue of all earthly things4 ,and what of its electricity1 its magnetism1 the aurora and its streaming meteors1--its thunder1 lightning1 clouds1 and rain1--all1 shall we say1 the instantaneous effect of the authoritative command8 ,,and ,,god ,,said1 ,,let ,,there ,,be ,a ,,firmament ,,in ,,the ,,midst ,,of ,,the ,,waters6 ,we every day see the conversion of water into steam1 and steam into air2 and the air1 like the ocean1 receiving every substance into itself4 ,but1 nevertheless1 it is not inferred that there is any augmentation to the volume of the atmosphere1 any increase or essential change upon its original mass4 ,without the existence of this fluid1 the earth would have been no suitable place for any of its living inhabitants1 vegetable or animal4 ,therefore was it created2 therefore does the account of its creation stand in the order in which we find it in the ,mosaic narrative2 and1 therefore1 from this very circumstance1 are we not warranted to infer that we have before us a description of the actual genesis of things--that it is not a remodeling or transformation of the old1 but the veritable course under which all creation was at first brought into being1 form1 and parts1 that the inspired writer intends to record8 ,we cannot refuse1 by parity of reasoning1 to conclude the same as to the immediately succeeding act in the ,divine operations4 ,the arrangement of the surface of the earth was now to be effected2 and1 just as one portion of the waters was lifted and expanded into air1 so1 in consequence of a different proportion in the elements1 and evolution of new principles1 the seas were formed and gathered into the depressions occasioned by the raising up of the dry land1 its consolidation into rocks and mountains4 ,this is the starting point of geology4 ,the science can get no deeper4 ,it begins all its researches1 and builds all its calculations1 upon that crystalline crust which is termed primary1 which is co-extensive with the superficial area of the globe1 which is found in every region1 and beneath which no explorations have anywhere been made4 ,and wherefore not assume this as an immediate formation1 as a direct preparatory arrangement1 like the seas and atmosphere1 for the life that was just to be provided with a habitation upon it8 ,a beginning for organic bodies is demonstrable upon geological evidence4 ,the lowest fossiliferous rocks have been reached1 and everywhere they are found to maintain the same relative position4 ,the inference1 therefore1 is legitimate1 nay1 probable1 that the primary formations of geologists constituted the first dry land1 as herein described2 and that ,time1 calculated according to the operations of natural mechanical laws1 can enter in no way into our speculations as to their origin4 8,and ,god said1 ,let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place1 and let the dry land appear3 and it was so40 ,the course of creation proceeds4 8,and ,god called the dry land earth1 and the gathering together of the waters called he seas40 ,the globe was thus divided into land and ocean4 ,an atmosphere embraces the whole1 tempering the heat and cold of the one1 receiving the exhalations of the other1 and both prepared for the ministrations required of them4 ,the dry earth is represented as being first the seat of organic life4 ,the new and bare surface is covered with herbage4 ,the grasses1 shrubs1 and trees all start into being1 prepared each for the diffusion and continuance of their kind1 by yielding seed and fruit4 ,and then commenced on the theater of our globe the successive evolution of the principle of life1 subtile1 active1 prolific1 in all the boundless prodigality of nature1 and mysterious still as the essence and fount of all-creative ,being4 ,at this part of the narrative it is generally supposed1 according to the common reading1 that there is a retrograde step1 as it were1 introduced4 ,the day and night have been made to precede the creation of the sun and moon2 and now to supply the deficiency we are told of the appointment of these luminaries in the heavens 8to give light upon the earth40 ,but three days and three nights have already revolved4 ,doubtless they have1 but not without light1 for light has been created2 and not without a provision for the night1 for the light has been divided from the darkness4 ,the earth has been revolving upon its own axis2 that occasioned the succession of day and night then as now4 ,another motion is communicated1 whereby it revolves in its orbit and circles round the sun2 that causes the variety of the seasons1 and the divisions of the year4 ,the luminous matter diffused through space1 and equally shining upon all bodies1 has been assembled into the great central orbs1 to be the dispensers each of light and heat to their respective systems2 and upon these arrangements being established1 both days and nights1 seasons and years1 are all dependent upon1 as they all arise from1 the revolution of the planets round the central luminary4 8,and ,god said1 ,let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven1 to divide the day from the night2 and let them be for signs and for seasons1 and for days and for years40 8,and ,god made two great lights2 he made the stars also40 ,the original does not bear out the sense of there being in these instances an act of creation2 neither does the ,english term itself always imply that meaning4 ,light-bearers1 or the depositories of illumination1 is the true rendering of the ,hebrew4 ,the ,septuagint translators have used similar relative terms1 and in our own language the expression 8made0 often signifies fashioned1 formed1 used1 constrained4 ,and so the phrase here refers not to the creation1 but to the uses of bodies already described as being in existence1 and created along with all matter in the beginning4 ,but now they are invested with new properties1 are arranged so as to perform new functions1 and stand in relations each to each1 at the bidding of ,him who brought them into being4 ,next to the summoning of the universe into existence1 this was the most stupendous act of ,divine power1 and we know as much of the one as of the other4 ,some of the properties of matter we are acquainted with4 ,the laws of motion we can define in some measure1 and calculate also their effects4 ,but whence the one1 and how the arbitrary appointment of the other1 through all the infinite diversity of systems and spheres--precise1 harmonious1 and orderly--baffles all the ingenuity of science to determine4 ,mark1 too1 the order of the introduction of this new class of facts1 just in the due course and regulation of nature4 ,when life is mentioned1 and the earth is clothed with verdure1 the seasons begin their round1 and the divinely-instructed historian acquaints us with the cause4 8,and ,god set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth2 and to rule over the day and over the night1 and to divide the light from the darkness40 ,the waters are now replenished with their stores of animal life1 and by the same act of creation the air receives its stock of winged tribes4 ,then follows1 as the work of another distinct period of time1 the introduction of the terrestrial races--the living creature after his kind--the cattle--and creeping thing--and beast of the earth after his kind4 ,the description here is general4 ,the orders1 genera1 and species are not named4 ,still the catalogue is large and amply descriptive4 ,the various types of organic structure are alluded to1 and each term or epithet of the quadruple list is elastic enough to embrace one and all the diversified families of the most methodical naturalist4 8,and ,god made the beast of the earth after his kind1 and cattle after their kind1 and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth1 each after his kind40 ,such is the account1 the order1 and course of creation1 as set forth in the inspired record4 ,the description of the various generative acts is simple1 distinctive1 and consonant with the energies of the ,will by which they are performed4 ,the whole narrative is one of many1 within the compass of the sacred volume1 in which a strict adherence to the letter leads to a sound interpretation4 ,the wisdom of man will be confounded when it tries to fathom the methods and devices of the divine ,artificer in originating his works4 ,his safety will often be in distrusting his own understanding1 in not magnifying overmuch the ingenuity of his own speculations1 and in sometimes believing that even science will be exalted by approximating to1 rather than by departing from1 the literalities of ,scripture4 ,,ii4 ,compare now the epochs of geology with the ,,days of ,scripture1 and there will be observed at least a remarkable coincidence between them4 ,the fossiliferous systems of the one are nearly the same in number with the descriptive paragraphs in the other4 ,the order in the creation of organized bodies1 the progression of life upon the earth1 are also wonderfully striking in the records of both4 ,the lowest of our fossiliferous deposits contain the impressions of plants--these stand at the beginning of the ,mosaic list4 ,the same groups1 and the whole of the next in succession1 are characterized by the prevailing abundance of marine tribes--the waters1 according to the sacred narrative1 then received their command1 and multiplied abundantly the moving creature that hath life4 ,vegetables and animals1 still of the waters1 continue to increase during the carboniferous era1 when a new system succeeds1 and in this the foot-prints of birds are distinctly traced--so it was in the same order of succession that the winged fowl is sent forth into the open firmament of heaven4 ,the ,lias and ,oolite formations immediately follow1 filled with monsters of the deep1 saurians and flying lizards1--the text speaks of the 8great whales0 of the period1 as distinguished among the productions of the waters4 ,the ,wealden ,chalk1 and ,tertiaries are replete with all kinds of reptiles1 mammals1 and quadrupeds--the horse1 urus1 and other forms of cattle--and so1 in like manner1 the last in the ,mosaic list1 as the highest in the geological strata1 are the types of every beast1 cattle1 and creeping thing4 ,now1 can this running parallel be accidental or intended8 ,did the writer of the one record know anything of the contents of the other8 ,does the course of creation1 as detailed in the strata of the earth1 follow as a necessary consequence from the nature of things8 or as the arbitrary appointment of ,him who made them8 ,would plants1 fishes1 reptiles1 fowl1 mammals1 all emerge in this precise order of succession1 by any known law of organic structure8 ,or could not the first and last1 or any of the intermediate kinds1 have been at once1 and as adaptively1 brought together in one and the same period of time8 ,was the writer of the ,genesis acquainted with the rich exuberant flora of the carboniferous age8 and was it meant as a true exposition of its history that there were as yet no beasts or quadrupeds upon the earth to enjoy it8 ,and knowing of it1 as well as of all the other superficial arrangements1--the upheaval of the crust1 the rise of mountains1 the alternate shifting of sea and land1--does he describe the progress of organic creation precisely as it occurred1 and as the changes of the planet became ,,adaptive8 ,the series of creative acts terminates in the introduction of ,man upon the stage of terrestrial being4 8,and ,god said1 ,let us make man in our image1 after our likeness2 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea1 and over the fowl of the air1 and over the cattle1 and over all the earth1 and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth40 ,here both narratives are completely at one as to man's place in the course as well as system of creation4 ,no fragment of his race has been detected in any of the rocky strata of the earth4 ,every other organic thing1 of every class1 and order1 and tribe1 has its representative in one or other of the geological epochs4 ,man stands apart and alone in the geology as in the history4 ,no mere link in the chain of organic existence1 not a being of mere earthy mold1 but fashioned in the image of his ,maker1 and fitted to explore1 to understand1 and to exercise dominion over the works of his creation4 ,how much1 again1 in all this last and highest evolution of creative might1 is the conclusion confirmed1 and arrived at from so many converging lines1 that the sacred record was ,,intended to embody an actual account of the creation of our globe1 in its various primordial arrangements as well as in all its consecutive events1 until its majestic close in the human epoch8 ,for1 looking back and comparing the whole narrative with the facts of geology1 is it not highly probable that we have in that account distinctly shadowed forth the progressive researches of the science1 the great physical truths of creation1 as symbolized in the rocks8 ,the brilliant vista through millions of untold ages1 and upon scenes supposed to be unnoticed and unrecorded1 vanishes indeed at the admission of this principle of interpretation4 ,but a more consistent view of the world's history--of the comparative longevity of its successive tribes--of the various changes and alterations which its surface has undergone--and a less violence far to the obvious import of the sacred text--form no unpleasing substitutes on which1 amidst such lures to doubt1 bewilderment1 and error1 faith and reason will equally incline to repose4 ,,iii4 ,the conclusions which have been1 or which may be1 deduced from a comparative examination of geology and the ,mosaic record1 fall to be noticed4 #a4 ,in order to preserve the literal rendering of the six days of creation1 it is maintained that the ,mosaic record takes no account whatever of any of the geological formations described4 ,after the intimation1 8,in the beginning ,god created the heaven and the earth2 and the earth was without form and void2 and darkness was upon the face of the deep0--the close of the ,,epochs1 with all their complement of strata and fossils1 was accomplished2 and then1 as descriptive of the era of man1 with all his living cotemporaries1 and the several days with the works therein accomplished1 the new order of events referred to in the text commences with the declaration1 8and the ,spirit of ,god moved upon the face of the waters40 ,the discoveries of geology are thus all cast back upon unrecorded anterior periods1 and with regard to which the sacred record is silent2 while of the new series of events1 in precisely the same order of succession and enlarged amount of normal organic being1 there is a defined literal account4 ,this may be regarded as the generally received interpretation among the leading geologists as well as of a large class of eminent divines4 ,it was early and eagerly adopted by ,dr4 ,chalmers4 ,the proof of its soundness is made to hinge upon certain ingenious criticisms regarding the terms bara1 asah1 yatzan1 which in the common version of the ,hebrew text are translated created1 made1 formed4 ,according to the new rendering1 wherever any of these words occur in any of the verses after the second1 they are to be restricted to the simple act of fashioning1 arranging1 and constructing new bodies out of pre-existing matter4 ,hence1 all the initial and secondary actings noticed in the narrative are in this manner clearly distinguishable4 ,it is farther argued1 that all the secondary class of arrangements are distinctively pointed to1 and separated from the primordial1 by the formula of expression1 8and ,god said10 which is introduced at the commencement of each of the six days1 but not prefixed to the initial creative act of all matter in the beginning4 ,now1 against this mode of argument it may be objected that much of it does not bear upon the question at issue4 ,the discrepancy is one more of things than of words4 ,it is the physical solution1 rather than the critical1 that is the important matter of inquiry2 and this no mere verbal emendations of the text will altogether and consistently help out4 ,observe the character of the acts spoken of after the second verse and introduction of the expression1 8and ,god said20--the calling light into being1 the separation of the darkness1 the division of day and night1 the formation of an atmosphere1 the fixed position of the firmament above and the waters beneath1 and the separation of the dry land4 ,these are the acts of the first and second days4 ,but what of them before this8 ,these elements and their arrangement were all required1 and must have all existed1 during the epochs recorded in geology4 ,that is admitted4 ,the light needed no renewal after any geological transposition of the land and sea4 ,the revolutions of the heavenly bodies would be equally unaffected1 and days1 seasons1 and years would remain and proceed in the same order of succession4 ,the firmament and atmosphere would continue to occupy their relative positions4 ,and so1 according to the usus loquendi and legitimate import of all the terms employed in the text1 we are reading of things that were neither in being nor in operation before1 but which now for the first time are represented as being summoned into existence4 ,we are equally unprepared for the admission made by some of the friends of revelation1 that ,moses knew not the full amount and nature of the knowledge conveyed in his narrative1 just as 8he was not aware of the profound spiritual meaning of much of the ritual which he was employed to institute4 ,it was an obscure text1 which awaited the ,divine commentary of the christian dispensation40#af ,there is no analogy between the subjects4 ,the law was confessedly a preparatory1 incompleted dispensation4 ,the order of creation as traced by ,moses embraces substantively everything which creation contains--the elements1 disposition1 and collocation of its parts--and that he saw not through the whole of a future1 unfulfilled plan1 furnishes no good ground for the assumption that he was ignorant of or purposely passes over the history of millions of years of the very subject on which he was inspired to write1 and on which he was to build his whole system of theism and of grace4 ,this mode of interpretation1 beside1 assumes a hiatus in the text for which there is no just warrant1 either in the verbal structure of the narrative1 or in the physical character and order of the events described4 ,it has always appeared to us to proceed upon principles of explication which violate all the canons of a pure and severe criticism1 which indulgently gives way to new and gratuitously assumed difficulties1 and which would leave nothing in any writing except what the reader chooses to find in it4 #b4 ,the principle of interpreting the days in ,genesis as periods of indefinite time1 and within which the several geological formations were successively evolved4 ,they who adopt this hypothesis can plausibly argue that the order of creative acts as revealed in the sacred record1 harmonizes in a very remarkable manner with the course of creation as detailed in the researches of geology4 ,hereby a comparison can be distinctly instituted1 and a parallelism observed betwixt the peculiar work of each day and the leading phenomena displayed in the earth's crust--from the first appearance of dry land1 when organic bodies had not been as yet created1 and the primary rocks in which none have been detected--up through the silurian1 devonian1 and carboniferous series1 in all which plants and marine organisms only are found--and onward until we reach the tertiary strata1 where1 in succession1 the revealed order of animal life is so remarkably coincident4 ,the details of the science are not indeed to be all1 and minutely1 read in the narrative4 ,but the main truths and the leading dogmata are there2 and if any departure from the literal rendering of the text can be permitted1 so as to fit in and adjust the geological phenomena1 it may be justly contended that there is less of violence and straining by the substitution of periods for days1 than by casting aside the whole genetic description as having no bearing whatever upon the primary cosmogony of the globe4 ,then the various events1 it may be farther argued1 as recorded in the text--the creation of light--the formation of a firmament--the division of day and night--the appointment of seasons and years--the gathering together of the waters1 and the elevation of the dry land--are all so described and placed in such juxta-position as can only be applicable to primary creative acts1 to things which were not before1 and which now for the first time were brought into being and condition4 ,the abettor of this view and mode of reconciliation will likewise avail himself1 in defense of its being an orthodox interpretation1 of the latitude of meaning ascribed to the term 8day10 in the ,scriptures themselves4 ,even in the second chapter of the ,divine word1 and applied to the very subject in question--the order of creation--he finds the term to be used in an indefinite sense3 8,these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth1 when they were created in the ,,day that the ,lord ,god made the earth and the heavens1 and ,,every ,,plant of the field40 ,the solemn announcement at the close of this world's drama will not fail also to be adverted to--8in the last days perilous times shall come0--wherein periods of longer or shorter duration are implied as existing in the midst of days4 ,frequently too there occur the expressions3 the day of grace--the day of salvation--the day of the ,lord--the day of trial--the day of redemption--terms all of unlimited import and not to be defined by the planetary diurnal calendar1 but to be determined by the arrangements of a dispensation in which man is viewed as a moral accountable being1 and not by any necessities in which his physical condition and the world he inhabits are concerned4 ,thus by adopting this hypothesis1 which assumes the entire narrative as a consecutive description of the order of creation1 every day as bearing the initiative of its own class of phenomena1 the plan and quality of the ,divine works as all delineated and shadowed out1 the progressive succession of the whole organic and inorganic historically described1 and the phenomena1 and the terms descriptive of them1 are asserted to be in their proper places1 and in harmony each with each4 #c4 ,there is another mode of defending the text in consistency with the general facts of the science1 by assuming that the course of creation indicated through the epochs was in all its characteristic features reproduced1 and substantially represented in the cosmogonic period of the ,mosaic account4 ,we have noticed from time to time1 in the different stages of our description1 in what the analogies consisted4 ,in the earliest1 as well as in the last1 organic fossil types1 there is the most perfect identity with all the vegetable and animal forms described in the narrative4 ,the order of their reappearance is likewise similar4 ,moses1 it is here supposed1 saw the casting of the same molds1 the agency of the same hand1 and the 8day0 to be successively the period for the reproduction of the work4 ,read now consecutively the whole account1 and observe how the ,historian passes in review the entire series of the ,divine acts1 and runs over again the great master-keys of this harmonious system4 ,he is present1 so to speak1 when1 in the beginning1 the matter of the heaven and the earth was created4 ,he witnesses the arrangement of the parts1 which before were without form and void4 ,he hears the command1--,,let ,,there ,,be ,,light4 ,and now1 as the mighty structure expands in vision before the eye of his mind1 the firmament and the waters and the dry land separating and drawing off to their respective places1 he introduces a record of the period within which the several operations were effected4 ,how long is that period8 ,just the division of time with which he was acquainted1 and which he knew was amply sufficient for the completion of all the operations in question4 ,the acts are successive4 ,the will that performed them is omnipotent4 ,everything followed in its order and in the time that all creative power commanded it to be4 ,hence the days1 with regard to all the initial acts1 both of creation and arrangement1 were literally of the duration assigned in the text4 ,after the introduction of organic life on the third day1 geology speaks definitively as to the successive order of the kinds and families of the structural forms created4 ,but it gives no sign1 and can give none1 as to the portion of time required for their creation4 ,it may have been an instant or a day1--a week or a period4 ,the revealed account speaks positively upon the point2 and shows how1 at the bidding of the ,divine will1 the various elements--the water1 the earth1 the air--were replenished with their respective tribes in the old as in the new world1 and under all the phases and epochs of their being4 ,the inspired narrative1 it may be alleged1 according to this view1 is not only consistent with itself1 but becomes a sublime illustrative introduction to the book of revelation4 ,the matter of the heaven and the earth was the effect of a single command4 ,the separation of its elements was the instantaneous effect of another4--,upon the creation of light1 a division is given to time1 and the morning and the evening hours were established4 ,the arrangements of the second day followed1 and were all completed in the period assigned4 ,so with the remanent days and their respective included operations4 ,the eye of the historian sees nothing intervening betwixt the cause and the effect2 his mind is fixed upon the action1 not the manner of its accomplishment2 and knowing the whole to be the result of the same power and the arrangement of the same providence1 he combines in one cycle or ,,week the entire series of events1 one day of which unto the ,eternal is as a thousand1 and a thousand1 but as one day4 ,the work all accomplished1 the immediately revolving period of time was established as the ,sabbath of the ,lord4 ,having made man in his own image1 with knowledge to apprehend and adore the author of his being1 the divine ,architect ,,rested2 he ceased from any farther acts of creation2 nothing of any material existence1 nor of any living thing1 has been added to his works since the completion of the six days1 and so the rest has continued and will continue to the end of time--a ,sabbath hallowed by the structure of the globe and the beneficence of the ,creator4 ,these are some of the methods by which the geologist aims in bringing the conclusions of his science within the scope of the ,mosaic record1 and in freeing his speculations from all their incumbrances and responsibilities4 ,there is still a great deal to be accomplished1 even with all these approximations1 toward a right and full and literal comparison with the sacred text4 ,there is indeed no real conflict between the discoveries of geology and the declarations of the divine oracles2 and1 with so many doors of retreat from or avenues of approach into the inviting fields of its research1 no friend of the truth need be afraid of an excursion through the most intricate depths of creation's works4 ,meanwhile1 the metaphysicians have all been driven from the field1 with all their untenable dogmas about the eternity of matter4 ,geologists repudiate the doctrine1 and their science refutes it4 ,but there is such a thing as others rashly rushing to conclusions1 wherever they can see tendencies or leanings to countenance their impious materialism4 ,in this direction1 many think that geology1 however falsely1 wholly inclines4 ,and even now it is better1 infinitely better1 to rest with unhesitating confidence in the received interpretation of ,scripture than be borne away by sweeping generalizations1 built most certainly somewhere upon loose conflicting elements of calculation4 ,countless millions of years are1 we admit1 as nothing in the records of eternity--of no account with the ,everlasting of days4 ,nevertheless1 if the time can be reduced1 as unquestionably there are data for the reduction1 the epochs and the days approximate all the closer2 the speculations of the science are brought into better keeping with the dicta of revelation2 farther discoveries will lead to farther adjustments2 until what was done for the interests of the one by detecting the miscalculations of ,hindoo astronomy1 will again be effected for the other by scanning more intelligibly the geological horoscope4--,and thus removing every ground of suspicion or offense1 will serve to bring this interesting branch of knowledge from the outer court of the ,gentiles to the innermost shrine of the ,,temple ,,of ,,truth4 ,the father of the ,inductive ,philosophy thus expresses his views3 8,in the works of creation1 we behold a twofold emanation of the ,divine virtue2 of which the one relates to its power1 the other to its wisdom4 ,the former is especially observed in the creating the material mass2 the latter1 in the disposing the beauty of its form4 ,this being established1 it is to be remarked1 that there is nothing in the history of creation to invalidate the fact1 that the mass and substance of heaven and earth was created1 confusa1 undistinguishable1 in one moment of time2 but that the six days were assigned for disposing and adjusting it40#ag ,this was emitted at a time when geology was in its nonage2 the strata of the earth and their singular fossil contents were as yet unexplored2--still it is the oracular voice of one who had looked through the physical universe with the glance of science and of genius1 and who knew and sought it only in relation to the ,creator and his ,word4 ,,conclusion4 ,,the ,,creator4 ,the magnificent work of creation1 whose course we have been tracing in some of its primordial arrangements1 in the geological phenomena of the earth's crust1 and in its relations to the vast planetary system of which it is a member1 is the result over all of design and intelligence4 ,the changes wrought in the earth's structure and framework1 from period to period1 have not been brought about by merely mechanical changes of physical conditions4 ,there are order and method in the inorganic1 no less than in the organic forms1 into which matter in any of the earth's revolutions has been cast4 ,there is prospective contrivance each for each4 ,the alterations made in the outward surface1 whether of sea or land1 have been always such as were best adapted to the habits and requirements of successive living tribes4 ,and the whole amount of change1 in both departments of nature1 has ever been in such measure and degree as to show1 from the beginning1 a persistent principle of stability in the system1 and a wise1 all-controlling arm to be regulating and directing everything4 ,the invisible things of ,god1 from the creation of the world1 are clearly seen2 and we cannot1 if we would1 rid ourselves of the thought1 that somewhere and beyond1 there is1 not a 8primitive cause0#ah only1 but a ,divine ,being1 the master of the universe1 potentially in and present through all things4 ,aristotle concludes his treatise 8,de ,mundo10 with observing1 that to treat of the world without saying anything of its ,author would be impious1 and he proceeds to show1 on various grounds1 the traces of an all-governing ,deity4 ,newton concludes his great work1 the 8,principia10 by some reflections on the nature of the ,supreme ,cause1 and infers from the structure of the visible world1 8that it is governed by one almighty and all-wise ,being1 who rules the world1 not as its soul1 but as its ,lord1 exercising an absolute sovereignty over the universe1 not as over his own body1 but as over his work2 and acting in it according to his pleasure1 without suffering anything from it40 ,speaking of the laws by which ,god governs the world1 and giving his definition of the term ,,law1 ,boyle says1 8,i look upon a law as a moral1 not physical cause1 as being1 indeed1 but a rational thing1 according to which an intelligent and free agent is bound to regulate its actions4 ,but inanimate bodies are utterly incapable of understanding what it is1 or what it enjoins1 or when they act conformably or unconformably to it3 therefore1 the actions of inanimate bodies1 which cannot incite or moderate their own actions1 are produced by real power1 not by laws40 8,hence10 says ,whewell1 in his ,bridgewater ,treatise1 8hence we infer that the intelligence by which the law is ordained1 the power by which it is put in action1 must be present at all times1 and in all places where the effects of the law occur3 that thus the knowledge and the agency of the ,divine ,being pervade every portion of the universe1 producing all action and passion1 all permanence and change4 ,the laws of nature are the laws which ,he1 in his wisdom1 prescribes to his own acts2 his universal presence is the necessary condition of any course of events1 his universal agency the only origin of any efficient force40 ,the researches of science1 the deeper they go into the secrets of nature1 issue in the surest and brightest disclosures of the ,divine ,architect of the universe4 ,we are enabled1 by the lights which are furnished by the various branches of ascertained knowledge1 to read in some degree the mind and purpose of ,god in the creations of his hand4 ,we see in many instances what is actually intended by certain arrangements and combinations1--why1 and for what end1 objects are constructed in a particular way1 and how it is that trains of events are made to follow in one uniform order rather than in any other4 ,the universe1 we discover1 is not only bound by laws permanent and unchanging3 the laws themselves have an end to serve1 a particular result to accomplish4 ,accumulations of matter are brought together with a definite precise view2 living substances are constructed with organs suited to their conditions of existence2 relations of air1 earth1 and water1 are established1 which nicely answer the functions to be performed2 and in ten thousands of cases are manifested the form1 size1 position1 qualities of hardness1 softness1 and cohesion in the individual parts which can best secure their own special well-being along with the general conservation of the framework to which they are attached4 ,how admirably1 from age to age1 do the organic as well as the inorganic structures of the geological narrative illustrate the truth of these remarks1 where the manifestations of design are as numerous as the objects of creation1 and as legible as if ,god had written their import by his own finger8 ,the oldest1 equally with the newest1 book of nature1 discloses the records of his will4 ,we read them in the varied language traced and stereotyped upon their stony leaves4 ,and in perusing the diversified contents of this wonderful volume1 we cannot rise without the conviction that the being1 attributes1 and character of its ,author1 are brightly and indelibly impressed on every page4 ,the argument for the existence of a ,,designing ,,agent in the creation and arrangements of a material world1 may be thus illustrated3 ,a rude1 unshapely piece of stone--say the 8stone upon the heath0--does not at once impress the spectator with the conviction that it was made and placed where it is1 by a designing intelligent being4 ,but let it be chiseled into form1 give it symmetry and proportion1 and he immediately concludes that this is the result of skill and intention4 ,look at a piece of machinery--its framework of wood--its springs of iron--its wheels1 beams and axles1 composed of different metals1 and arranged in different forms--and the inference is irresistible1 that neither the forest1 nor the quarry1 nor the mine1 yielded the materials in their present shape1 nor combined among themselves to put them together4--,reason seeks for a different kind of agency1 and experience tells that the mind and the hand of man have been there4 ,we see water converted into steam1 the steam brought into contact with a piece of metal1 the vapor confined within an inclosure and acted upon by a condenser2 and through means of this simple arrangement and the application of this natural power1 duly regulated and sustained1 we discern the triumph of mind over matter--the marvels which human industry and intelligence have been able to achieve4 ,this combination of materials is not a thing of life4--,chance has produced none of these arrangements4 ,the whole is the result of design1 of aiming intention1 of calculating intelligence4 ,examine the telescope1 its apparatus of lenses1 reflectors1 and mirrors3 look through that narrow tube as it is pointed in a clear starry night to the azure vault2 and your shout of astonishment1 when you first behold the increased magnitude of these orbs--their separation into systems and clusters--firmaments ascending in gradations of brilliancy1 one above another--and the infinitely remote1 studded and glowing with higher and higher galaxies--will partake of a mingled feeling of admiration at the immensity and grandeur of the universe--the wisdom and skill which combined to frame the instrument that brings within your ken1 and enables you to gaze on1 the glorious vision4 ,now1 in nature1 we find the same indications of design1 the same surprising combinations of skill1 instruments framed with matchless wisdom and the most exquisite contrivance4 ,nay1 all here1 in every department of creation1 leaves human ingenuity at an immeasurable distance4 ,no statuary can rival that which is exhibited in the rocks1 gems1 and crystals of the earth4 ,machinery is transcendently surpassed1 in the forms of every organic thing beneath or around1 in minuteness1 adaptation1 and balancing of parts1--the steam-engine in energy and power--the ship by a more refined and skillful equipment of ropes1 pulleys1 and sails--and the telescope is not for a moment to be compared with the human eye in the beauty of its construction1 the power of its movements1 the amazing swiftness and variety of its glance4--,but there is design and intelligence manifested in the works of man4 ,they could not arrange themselves4 ,they must have had an artificer4 ,draw near1 look unto the works of creation1 what cumulative evidence of their intelligent author1 conclusive as the severest demonstrations of science4 ,man asks for a sign from heaven4 ,ten thousand intimations are given--millions1 indeed1 of miraculous contrivances meet him in every department of the universe4 ,this earth1 however1 is not an isolated body in the universe2 it forms one of a system of worlds1 and its geological history cannot be regarded as complete until we have viewed it in some of its more extended relations4 ,the course of creation is traced in the planetary system1 a series of masses of matter assuming one form1 moving in one plane1 following in one orbital path1 revolving around a common center1 enlightened and warmed by a common sun1 and obedient1 one and all1 to the same great law of gravitation4 ,the mighty problem of the universe has been solved upon the simple assumption1 that a piece of our earth is like a piece of the other planets2 that the properties of matter here are as the properties of matter above2 and as the laws of motion and attraction below1 so are they on high1 and throughout infinite space4 ,astronomy thus derives all its achievements as a science from the earth1 and the cause of the motions of the heavenly orbs is ascertained from experiments on the matter of the earth1 which first led to the knowledge of regular dynamical laws4 ,the field of astronomical research1 in consequence1 is not only the most wonderful1 but it is also that in which our knowledge is the most accurate4 ,distant and infinitely remote as are the objects of the science1 there is yet in no other department of natural philosophy results of investigation so completely satisfactory4 ,with the precision of geometry1 and the minute accuracy of numbers1 the astronomer calculates the particular place of every one of the bodies of the solar system1 at any particular hour and moment of the day4 ,he determines the precise rate of their motions1 and positions which they occupied in relation to the earth1 in every past period of their history however remote1 and even corrects the notations of former observers4 ,he shows their relative distances1 weights1 dimensions1 and influences upon one another2 estimates the length of their days and years1 eccentricities and perturbations2 and describes the orbits in which they severally move1 in their steady unwearied march through the heavens4--,the undeniable effect of results like these1 is to impress deeper upon the inquiring mind the conviction of foresight1 method1 and design in the vast system of which the earth is but a part2 and as the earth gives lead to1 and indicates some of the first lessons in1 astronomy1 so we derive in return a fuller knowledge of its various relations and past history than its own single geological tables can unfold4 ,when we proceed to speculate about the manner of ,deity's actings1 difficulties at once meet us in every quarter1 partly from our utter incapacity to comprehend and partly from the imperfections of human language to express--even were our comprehension adequate to the task--the essential qualities of ,deity himself4 ,as the anima mundi1 the ancients represented the ,divine ,being1 as both the active and self-moving principle in nature1 and likewise as passive1 and acted upon by the external world4 ,newton1 in order to express his idea of the ,divine omnipresence1 employed the term sensorium1 as denoting the mode in which he was enabled to perceive whatever passed in space fully and intimately4 ,and while nothing was farther from the mind of the great philosopher than the ascription of bodily organs to the ,divinity1 he had to defend himself from much bitter and vehement controversy in consequence4 ,equally liable to misrepresentation1 and from the sane cause--the imperfection of language--was the manner in which ,newton spoke of the eternity or infinity of the ,supreme ,being1 as if he regarded him as present in all parts of time and space by diffusion3 whereas his notion simply was1 that since ,he is necessarily and essentially present in all parts of space and duration1 space and duration must also necessarily exist4 ,durat semper1 et adest ubique1 et existendo semper et ubique1 durationem et spatium constituit1--is the tenet which he held4 ,no less difficult is it to express correctly the inference which we may legitimately deduce of the ,,personality of the ,godhead from the works and course of creation4 ,and yet the idea is immediately consequent upon the conviction of a ,divine existence1 and is inseparable from it4 ,the conception of both is necessarily involved in the same process of thought4 ,wherever we trace the actings of mind or of intelligence1 the impress of design or the operations of a discriminating1 discerning cause1 reference is at one and the same instant made to a distinct personal subsistence4 ,power1 wisdom1 and goodness1 may1 indeed1 be regarded in one way as abstract qualities4 ,we can reason about them1 and hold them up to our contemplation1 as something distinct or different from the bodies in which they reside4 ,hence all our speculations respecting the laws of nature1 the primary and secondary qualities of matter1 the relations of cause and effect1 to which principle of abstraction in man the various sciences owe their origin4 ,the inductive philosophy is entirely built upon it4 ,the creations of poetry1 the peopling of the streams1 groves1 and mountains1 with the ideal impersonations of fancy1 are derived from the same source2 while1 by lifting us above the dominion of mere sense and attention to our physical wants1 our spiritual energies are thereby awakened1 and the soul enabled by its own inner visions to hold communings with new worlds1 and to anticipate a new life4 ,but the principle of abstraction does not stop here4 ,it both separates and combines4 ,while it deals with the inferior manifestations of ideal qualities1 it unites and embodies into one--links the universe to its ,creator--represents him as the cause of all causes1 the source of all power1 and the fountain of all life2 out of whose boundless1 illimitable essence is the efflux of all being and existence4 ,the ancients erroneously clothed their conceptions of ,godhead in human shape1 and multiplied the number of divinities to accord to the varieties of human passion1 making gods many1 as there were principles of good or evil in their own hearts2 but still their superstition had a reality and foundation in nature4 ,their mythology had its origin in a true1 though corrupted1 theism2 and giving form and locality to their numerous divinities1 they but obeyed the dictates of that sentiment of the inner man1 which1 in unison with the voice of all creation1 proclaims the existence of a ,being whose personal subsistence and personal superintendence we necessarily associate with the laws and management of nature4 ,,he is there among his works1 their ,director as well as author4 ,the ,,unity of the ,divine ,being follows1 in like manner1 from an extended observation of the course of creation4 ,there is but one ,god1 as there is but one system of nature--one universe where the same law which acts upon all terrestrial bodies pervades all space1 rules over the planets1 and guides systems of worlds in their courses4 ,our deepest researches into the structure of the earth show1 that the same forces have been operative there1 as are still traced in passing changes on the surface4 ,similar organic forms were from the earliest periods in being1 endowed with similar instincts1 performing the self-same functions in the economy of nature1 with their living types of the present day4 ,the air1 the sea1 the earth2 plants1 animals1 and man1 are under one scheme of providence4 ,the seasons are uniformly successive4 ,year to year we see the same causes in operation4 ,time rolls on2 changes1 vast and progressive1 have been effected in the moral as well as physical aspect of the world1 while bodies remain essentially what they were before1 the conditions of sentient existence unaltered1 and man occupies the same high intellectual position in the great scale of being4 ,the same government thus maintains over all2 the parts shifting and changing1 the whole stable and collectively advancing2 bound together by one invisible chain1 and moving in obedience to one great principle of destiny and superintending will4 ,hence1 upon the presumption that the character of the works determines the character of their author1 the intelligent power which presides over all this must necessarily be ,,one4 ,since creation in its elements1 arrangements1 and means of general harmony1 is constructed upon a plan1 and since that plan manifests the most perfect order--deviations controlled within limits1 and convulsions only contributive to its greater stability--the inference cannot be resisted1 that the ,creator is essentially one in his being1 as he is undivided in his purposes and actings4 ,when we narrow the field of inquiry1 and look to man alone1 in his relation to the external world1 and the character of his moral constitution1 the conclusion becomes still more decided and apparent4 ,here we see that the last of created beings is not only the highest in the scale1 but likewise in the most perfect and extensive unison with the general scheme of nature4 ,he spreads himself over the whole face of creation1 is capable of enduring all climes1 of deriving sustenance from the products of all countries1 conveniences and the means of improvement from the rocks of all ages4 ,if we cannot demonstrate that this earth was made exclusively for man's use1 we can still clearly show that he participates more largely in its various products than any of its other inhabitants1 while it furnishes1 not only to the individual1 but to the race1 generation after generation1 the amplest field of mental and moral cultivation of which their natures are capable4 ,the ,god of the outward world is also1 and pre-eminently1 the ,god of man's inner being4 ,he who created the light1 likewise formed the human body4 ,the potter of the clay fashioned and quickened the immaterial spirit4 ,the controller of universal nature reigns supreme in the dominion of the soul4 ,the power that binds the planets in their orbits1 gives law to the conscience1 constraining it to acknowledge in its perception of truth and homage to virtue the reverence that is due to the ,one ,righteous ,governor over all4 ,contemplated under this latter and most important aspect of our nature1 we are brought1 in fact1 into immediate communication with the undivided ,author of our being4 ,the idea of many is excluded in the conviction that truth and duty are one and unalterable4 ,the gravitating principle in matter is not more universal in its operation1 nor more distinct in its constraining influence over all bodies1 than is the principle of ,,conscience in referring the good and evil of all actions to the standard of rectitude and tribunal of a righteous judge4 ,tribes1 the most remote from each other--the most debased in ignorance--the most polluted in guilt--agree in this common attribute of humanity4 ,mankind do not1 indeed1 acknowledge one and the same standard of morality1 and in religious observances there is the utmost diversity of opinion and practice4 ,but the sense of duty1 the feeling of moral and religious obligation1 is universally discriminative of the human family2 the sentiment of right and wrong is engraven indelibly on all human hearts4 ,and1 amidst all the ignorance or misconceptions that may prevail as to the merit or demerit of particular actions1 the moral principle points but to one foundation of truth--the ,one ,supreme--the ,lord of conscience as of creation4 ,the ,,perfections of the ,supreme ,being are1 in like manner1 as distinctly notified in the works of creation as the fact of the mere existence of a designing ,creator4 ,the immensity of the universe clearly demonstrates the power in which it originated1 and by which all its movements are still sustained1 guiding the infinite systems of celestial bodies and the geological revolutions of our own planet with the same ease that it watches over and upholds the minutest objects in existence4 ,there is no exhausting nor wearing out of the energies of nature3 the arm that reared1 still directs the stupendous fabric2 and as skill and contrivance are manifest in every part1 the greatest simplicity combined with the most exquisite adjustments1 the utmost regularity prevailing in every department1 and no failure in the operations of a single law throughout the vastness of creation1 the conviction of consummate wisdom and of infinite omniscience irresistibly strikes upon the mind4 ,no less clear and convincing are the evidences of goodness in the system of creation which we have been contemplating4 ,the works1 formed by the ,divine hand1 and which now occupy the ,divine care1 are boundless in extent1 and of infinite variety2 and they appear1 to the eye of the common observer1 as well as to the searching intellect1 all formed for use1 all rich in beauty1 all indicative of beneficence4 ,there is not utility alone interwoven1 but an inimitable loveliness painted on the face and stamped on every department of nature2 while creatures innumerable1 of various orders and of different structures1 present themselves to our view1 which1 by their creation and preservation--by the powers they possess1 and the enjoyments they attain--proclaim the liberality of their author to be boundless4 ,nay1 the inanimate parts of nature bear testimony to the same truth2 the sun warms and fertilizes the earth2 the earth affords nourishment1 and furnishes a convenient dwelling-place to the various living creatures that inhabit it2 and thus dead matter1 in all its arrangements and under all its past changes1 by being framed in subserviency to the happiness of living and intelligent beings1 clearly evinces the goodness of its ,creator4 ,but to ,man1 in addition1 the inspiration of the ,almighty has given understanding1 and has constituted him supreme in this lower world4 ,whoever considers his nature and condition1 the make of his body and the constitution of his mind1 the provision that is furnished for the supply of his animal wants1 the objects that are provided for the improvement of his intellectual faculties1 and the scope that is afforded for the exercise of his moral affections1 must acknowledge that1 if the goodness of ,god be manifestly displayed in the other works of his hands1 it shines with peculiar luster in the creation and preservation of man4 ,thus1 step by step1 we rise to the loftiest conception which the human mind can embrace--the conception of a ,god--the personality1 unity1 and perfection of his being4 ,how the conception of a ,creator is formed1 we cannot otherwise describe than by saying1 that it springs up in the mind immediately upon the perception of an external world4 ,it is not so much an exercise of reason1 or elaborate effort of the understanding2 but is rather a direct impression1 traced at once upon the soul1 as the image of ,deity reflected from his works4 ,all men possess it1 for all men are so constituted1 that they cannot look upon creation without the idea of a ,creator accompanying and flowing from the act4 ,the conception will be obscure1 vague1 and indistinct1 according to the capacity1 improvement1 and general knowledge of the individual4 ,but the conception is there1 as necessarily as the effect follows the cause1 the shadow the substance1 the image the object which occasioned it4 ,the heavens ,,declare the glory of ,god1 the firmament ,,shows his handiwork1 the earth bears the traces of his path4 ,and just in the degree in which we study and examine his works--their uses and adaptations--their infinite variety1 proportions1 regularity1 and magnitude--are our convictions of his existence deepened1 our admiration of his being and attributes enhanced1 our feeling of security under his rule strengthened1 and our sense of obligation and responsibility increased and solemnized4 ,ignorance does not obliterate the sense of ,deity2 it confuses and multiplies the image of his existence3 it leads to polytheism4 ,knowledge brightens the picture1 and represents the ,creator1 as reflected in his works1 ,,excellent1 ,,glorious1 ,,and ,,infinitely ,,perfect4 ,,finis4 ,,footnotes #a ,playfair4 #b ,playfair4 #c ,works1 vol4 i1 page #ahi4 #d ,dr4 ,dieffenbach's ,new ,zealand4 #e ,the diamonds found in the ,ural chain are supposed to be connected with the carbonaceous grits of the devonian and carboniferous periods1 which have been transmuted into metamorphic micaceous rocks1 and contain the diamonds between the flakes of mica1 just as garnets occur in mica-schist4 ,captain ,franklin discovered diamonds in ,bundelkund1 imbedded in sandstone1 with coal beneath1 and supposed to belong to the true carboniferous system4 #f ,westminster ,review1 ,no4 ,,lxxix4 #g ,the strata in which these tracks occur have since been carefully investigated by ,prof4 ,h4 ,d4 ,rogers1 who has ascertained that they belong truly to the carboniferous red shale1 and are1 therefore1 of an age essentially later than that attributed to them4 ,in a communication made to the ,american ,association1 ,prof4 ,rogers says3--,they occur1 indeed1 in a geological horizon1 only a few hundred feet below the conglomerate which marks the beginning of the productive coal series1 in which series similar foot-prints1 attributed to batrachian reptiles1 had been previously met with in ,western ,pennsylvania4 ,instead1 therefore1 of constituting a register of the antique life earlier than any hitherto discovered1 by at least a whole chapter in the geological book1 they carry back its age only by a single leaf4 ,the surfaces upon which these interesting foot-prints abound are the smooth1 divisional plains separating the beds of red sandstone1 and are invariably coated with a fine impalpable material of a once slimy and soft mud2 and everything in the texture of these surfaces goes to prove that they were in contact with the air1 and were the stages of rest between the alternate depositions of the strata4 ,many of them are covered with ripple-lines and water-marks1 suggestive of the shelving shore1 and1 with few exceptions1 they are spotted over with little circular impressions1 imputed to the pattering of rain4 ,all over the successive floors of this ancient world1 as delicate and impressible in their texture as so much wax or parchment1 are the footsteps and the trails of various creeping things1--the prints of some unknown four-footed creature1 thought to be reptilian in its nature1 but of whose true affinities the ,professor expressed his doubts1 trails analogous to those of worms and molluscs1 and various other marks1 written in hieroglyphics too ancient to be interpreted4 ,the larger foot-prints are1 for the most part1 five-toed1 alternate in the steps1 and with the fore feet as large nearly as the hind ones2 marks of the scratching and slipping of the feet1 and the half effacing passage of the tail1 or of some soft portion of the body1 are often distinctly legible4 ,prof4 ,agassiz stated his doubts as to the reptilian character of the foot-prints noticed1 and1 after describing the difference in the arrangement of the locomotive organs of the modern and the ancient fishes1 gave it as his belief1 that in those early periods there were fishes of a structure which permitted them to walk upon all fours4 #h ,rapport sur les ,poissons ,fossiles de l',argile de ,londres4 #i ,lyell's ,principles of ,geology1 vol4 i1 p4 #bfi4 #aj ,restitution of ,decayed ,intelligence1 by ,richard ,verstegan4 ,london1 #hvo1 #afje4 ,noticed in 8,chambers' ,journal10 ,june1 #ahdf4 #aa ,dr4 ,pye ,smith on ,scripture ,geology4 #ab ,this branch of the argument has also been minutely and ingeniously extended in the last work of ,mr4 ,hugh ,miller1 8,foot-prints of the ,creator10 where the author dwells particularly on the comparative measurements of the different fossils found in different formations2 a masterly and felicitous addition to the side of truth4 #ac 8,there is no doubt that coral1 under favorable conditions of growth1 increases to an enormous extent1 and very rapidly3 and although there are many instances on record of reefs which have not increased for many years1 there are others telling a very different tale4 ,the case of ,matilda ,atoll1 described by ,captain ,beechy1 is quoted as an example of this latter kind1 this atoll having been converted in thirty-four years from being a reef of rocks into a lagoon island1 fourteen miles in length1 with one of its sides covered nearly all the way with high trees4 ,some experiments were also mentioned1 in which it has been attempted to measure the rate of increase of different kinds of corals1 and as one result of these1 is an instance of a growth of two feet thick of coral1 accumulated on the copper bottom of a vessel in the course of twenty months40--,geology of the ,voyage of the ,beagle1 by ,charles ,darwin4 #ad ,mrs4 ,somerville's ,physical ,geography4 #ae ,mr4 ,davis4 #af ,the ,pre-,adamite ,earth4 #ag #a4 ,de ,augm4 ,scien4 ,l4 ,i4 #ah ,la ,place4 ,,glossary ,,of ,,scientific ,,terms4 ,,accretion4 ,increase of size or growth by the mechanical addition of new particles4 ,,aclinic ,,line4 ,the magnetic equator4 ,,acotyledonous4 ,plants having no seed-lobes4 ,mosses and ferns belong to this division1 and most of the coal plants are acotyledonous4 ,,actynolite4 ,a green mineral found chiefly in primitive formations often crystallized in six sided prisms4 ,,aerolites4 ,stones which appear to have fallen from the higher parts of the atmosphere4 ,they are sometimes called ,meteorites4 ,,alg4 ,a division of plants including the common sea-weeds4 ,,aluminous4 ,containing alumina1 or rather silicate of alumina1 which is the base of pure clay4 ,thus1 aluminous means clayey4 ,the word is1 however1 sometimes used in the sense of containing alum1 a sulphate of alumina and potash4 ,,ammonite4 ,a fossil genus of many-chambered shells allied to the ,nautilus1 named from their resemblance to the horns on the statues of ,jupiter ,ammon4 ,,amorphous4 ,without regular form4 ,,amorphozoa4 ,animals without definite form--sponges4 ,,amygdaloid4 ,almond-shaped4 ,any rock is called by this name which contains rounded or elongated minerals imbedded in some simple mineral or base4 ,,amygdaloidal 7in mineralogy74 ,a conglomerate4 ,,analcime is found in granite and gneiss rock--generally in cubes of various colors4 ,,ananchytes4 ,a genus of fossil echini or sea-urchins--in the chalk1 c4 ,,anchylosis4 7,gr41 crooked71 a joint is said to be anchylosed1 when so diseased as to become1 or when it becomes1 stiff or immovable4 ,,annelid4 7,annulus1 a ring7--,lamarck's worm-shaped animals1 as ,serpula1 vermilia1 c4 ,,anoplotherium4 ,the name given to a characteristic genus of a group of extinct quadrupeds found fossil in the older ,tertiary deposits1 and nearly allied to the tapir and pig4 ,,anticlinal4 ,or ,anticlinal axis4 ,a saddle-shaped position of rocks1 the result of disturbance4 ,,apiocrinite4 ,pear-shaped crinoidea--lily-shaped animals4 ,,aqueous4 ,that which is dependent on water4 ,aqueous rocks are those produced by deposit from water4 ,,arborescent4 ,branching like a tree4 ,,arenaceous4 ,sandy4 ,,argentiferous4 ,containing silver4 ,,argillaceous4 ,clayey4 ,,articulata4 ,a natural division of animals having their limbs articulated or jointed together1 like the lobster4 ,,asaphus4 ,an obscure genus of trilobites4 ,,asbestus4 ,a fibrous mineral of which an incombustible cloth is sometimes made4 ,,asterolepis4 7,gr41 star scale74 ,it is the largest fish yet found in the ,old ,red ,sandstone4 ,,augite4 7,gr41 luster7--a mineral4 ,,basalt4 ,an igneous rock1 often columnar and supposed to be ancient volcanic lava4 ,it is the most common of the group called ,trap-rocks4 ,,bed or ,,stratum4 ,a layer of material the whole of which exhibits some common character4 ,,belemnite4 ,a dart-shaped shell1 probably the ancient representative of some of our cuttle-fish4 ,the shell is conical and chambered4 ,,bellerophon4 ,a small chambered-shell like the ,nautilus4 ,,botryoidal 7in ,mineralogy74 ,clustered like a bunch of grapes4 ,,brachiopoda4 ,a group of shell-bearing animals having two long spiral arms serving to assist in locomotion and for other purposes4 ,,brevipennate4 ,short-winged4 ,c,,lacanthus4 ,a fish of the ,devonian formation4 ,,calamite4 ,a fossil from the coal-measures resembling a gigantic reed4 ,,calamus4 ,a fossil reed-like plant4 ,,calcaire ,,grossier4 ,a coarse limestone of the ,older ,tertiary period1 found in the ,paris basin4 ,,calcaire ,,siliceux4 ,a compact silicious limestone sometimes replacing the calcaire grossier4 ,,calcareous4 ,containing lime4 ,,cambrian4 ,belonging to ,wales4 ,the 8,cambrian system0 in ,geology1 is a name suggested by ,professor ,sedgwick1 to designate part of the ,silurian series of ,north ,wales4 ,,carapace4 ,the upper shell of reptiles4 ,,carboniferous4 ,containing carbon4 ,,carnivorous4 ,flesh-eating4 ,the 8,carnivora0 in ,zoology consist of a group of animals eminently carnivorous4 ,,caudal4 ,connected with the tail4 ,,cephalopoda4 ,a group of animals of which the ,nautilus and ,cuttlefish are examples1 having the locomotive apparatus immediately over the head and stomach4 ,,cephalaspis 7,buckler-head74 ,a fish4 ,,cestracion4 ,a fish1 a genus of an extinct family of sharks4 ,,cetaceans4 ,the whale tribe4 ,,chalcedony4 ,a silicious mineral1 like ,cornelian4 ,,chalybeate4 ,water holding iron in solution4 ,,chara1 ,,characid4 ,an aquatic plant fossilized4 ,,cheirolepis 7,thorny scale74 ,a fossil fish4 ,,chelonia4 ,sea tortoise4 ,,chert4 ,a silicious mineral1 resembling common flint1 but of coarser texture4 ,,ch,,ropotamus4 ,an extinct quadruped found in the ,eocene of ,england4 ,,cheiracanthus 7thorny hand74 ,a fish of the ,old ,red ,sandstone4 ,,cirrhipeda 7hair feet74 ,balanus-,coronula2 ,anatifa are of this family4 ,,clinometer4 ,an instrument for measuring the dip and determining the strike of beds or strata4 ,,coal-,,measures4 ,the whole group of deposits1 consisting chiefly of sands and shales1 with which coal is usually found4 ,,coccosteus4 7,gr41 berry on bone7--a ,ganoid fish4 ,,coleoptera4 ,beetles whose wings are covered with a hard sheath4 ,,columnar4 ,arranged in columns4 ,,conchifera4 ,one of the great divisions of ,conchology4 ,,conchoidal4 ,resembling a shell4 ,used in ,mineralogy to designate a particular kind of fracture4 ,,condyle4 ,a knob at the end of a bone1 a joint4 ,,conformable4 ,when the planes of bedding of two successive beds or strata are parallel to each other they are said to be conformable2 when not parallel they are unconformable4 ,,congeners4 ,species belonging to the same genus4 ,,conglomerate or ,,puddingstone4 ,a rock made up of rounded water-worn fragments of rock or pebbles cemented together by another mineral substance4 ,,conifer4 ,trees that bear cones1 as the pine4 ,,coprolite4 ,the fossil remains of excrement4 ,,cosmical4 ,relating to the universe4 ,,cosmogony4 ,the word formerly applied to speculations concerning the earth's age and history4 ,,cotyledonous4 ,plants whose seeds have but one lobe4 ,,crag4 ,the name given to certain ,tertiary deposits in ,norfolk and ,suffolk4 ,,cretaceous4 ,belonging to the chalk4 ,,crinoid4 ,belonging to the encrinite family4 ,,cropping ,,out4 ,the out-crop of a bed is its first appearance at the surface4 ,,crustaceans4 ,belonging to the crab or lobster family1 c4 ,,cryptogamous4 ,plants without apparent flowers4 ,,crystal4 ,the regular form in which a mineral is presented when that form can be described mathematically4 ,a mineral is said to be crystalline when its atoms are arranged with reference to some definite form4 ,,ctenacanthus4 ,belonging to the ,placoids4 ,,ctenoids4 ,fishes with comb-shaped scales4 ,,ctenoptychius4 ,a fish of the chalk formation4 ,,culm4 ,an impure kind of coal4 ,,cumbrian4 ,occurring in ,cumberland4 ,the 8,cumbrian ,system0 of ,prof4 ,sedgwick is a part of the ,silurian series of the ,lake district of ,cumberland and ,westmoreland4 ,,cycade4 ,fossil plants of the coal-measures4 ,,cyclas4 ,a small bivalve shell recent and fossil4 ,,cycloid4 ,marginated scales4 ,,debris4 ,the fragments of rocks removed by the action of weathering or by water4 ,,decorticated4 ,stripped of bark4 ,,deflection4 ,deviation from a straight course4 ,,degradation4 ,the wearing away of rocks1 generally effected by aqueous action4 ,,deliquescent4 ,becoming fluid by the attraction of water from the atmosphere4 ,,delta4 ,the alluvial land formed by a river at its mouth1 usually expanded in a fan shape like the fourth letter of the ,greek alphabet 771 and thence called ,delta4 ,,denudation4 ,the act of laying bare rocks formerly covered up1 the removal of the overlying masses being effected by water4 ,,dermal4 ,belonging to the skin4 ,,detritus4 ,matter rubbed off by mechanical action from other rocks4 ,,diallage4 ,a mineral4 ,,didelphys4 ,a pouched animal1 as the ,opossum4 ,,dinosauria4 ,land lizards--only found fossil4 ,,dip 7in ,geology74 ,the angle of inclination which the plane of a bed makes with the plane of the horizon4 ,,diplopterus1 ,,diplodus1 and ,,diplocanthus4 ,fishes of the ,devonian or ,old red sandstone4 ,,dipterus 7having two wings74 ,a fish of the ,old red sandstone4 ,,dodo4 ,a large bird once found in the ,isle of ,france1 but now extinct4 ,,dolomite4 ,crystalline carbonate of lime and magnesia4 ,,dyke4 ,a rock1 generally crystalline1 occupying a rent or fissure in some other and older rock4 ,a dyke differs from a mineral vein chiefly in its greater magnitude and in the absence of ramifications4 ,,dynamics 7,gr41 power74 ,used in mechanics4 ,,echinodermata4 ,having a skin like a hedgehog4 ,,efflorescence4 ,the term used to describe the falling to powder of certain minerals on exposure4 ,,embouchure4 ,the mouth of a great river4 ,,enaliosauria1 ,,plesiosaurus and ,,pliosaurus4 ,marine ,saurians1 as the ,ichthyosaurus4 ,,encrinite4 ,stone lily4 ,,endogenous4 ,plants that increase from within1 as lilies1 grasses1 and among trees1 palms4 ,,entomostracea4 ,one of ,cuvier's sections of ,crustaceans4 ,,eocene4 ,the name given by ,sir ,c4 ,lyell to the lowest and oldest division of the ,tertiary series of rocks4 ,,equisetum4 ,a plant1 fossil and recent4 ,,escarpment4 ,the steep face of a mountain chain or a ridge of high land4 ,,exogenous4 ,plants which increase their wood by external additions or rings of growth4 ,,exuvi4 ,a name sometimes given to all fossil remains found in the earth's crust4 ,,fauna4 ,the whole group of animals peculiar to a country or natural region at some one period4 ,,feldspar4 ,a hard silicious rock4 ,,ferruginous4 ,irony1 or containing iron4 ,,fern4 7,lat41 ,felices71 a class of cryptogamous plants4 ,,fissile4 ,capable of being split asunder4 ,,flustra4 ,a parasitic zoophyte or polyparia1 which covers sea-weeds and shells4 ,f,,cal ,,sediment4 ,dregs1 excrement4 ,,foraminifera4 ,the name given to a group of many-chambered shells1 generally microscopic1 the chambers communicating by a small open orifice 7foramen74 ,,fossil4 ,a word originally applied to all substances dug out of the earth1 including therefore all minerals1 but now limited in its application to the remains of organic beings1 whether vegetable or animal1 buried beneath the surface4 ,,fossiliferous4 ,containing fossils or organic remains4 ,,frith4 ,a deep and comparatively narrow arm of the sea4 ,,fronds4 ,the leaf of a fern is called a frond4 ,,fucoid4 ,that which resembles a fucus1 or seaweed3--fossil remains of fuci are called fucoids4 ,,fusiform4 ,spindle-shaped4 ,,galena4 ,sulphuret of lead4 ,,ganoid4 ,a group of fishes having enameled scales4 ,,gasteropoda4 ,a group of shell-bearing animals covered by one valve1 and having a fleshy foot attached to the belly4 ,,gault4 ,a bluish clay underlying the ,chalk and ,upper green sand in ,england4 ,,gavial4 ,a species of shark found in the ,ganges4 ,,geodes 7in mineralogy7 a round hollow stone whose cavity is usually filled with crystals4 ,,glacis4 ,a gently sloping bank4 ,,glyptolepis4 7,gr41 carved scale47 ,,glyptopomus4 ,a ,devonian fossil fish4 ,,gneiss4 ,the name given to mixtures of quartz1 feldspar1 and mica1 in which there is a laminated arrangement of the different ingredients4 ,,goniatites4 ,chambered fossil shells4 ,,granite4 ,a rock consisting generally of crystals of feldspar and mica imbedded in a quartzy base4 ,,gramin4 ,grasses4 ,,graptolites or ,,sea-,,pens4 ,fossils of the lower ,silurian system4 ,,grauwacke or ,,graywacke4 ,the name given by ,german geologists to some of the older fossiliferous rocks1 and generally of a gray color1 sandy composition1 and fissile nature4 ,,gryphi4 ,fossil bivalve shells found in the ,lias1 c4 ,,habitat4 ,the natural district to which a species of animals or vegetables is confined in its distribution4 ,,hexahedral4 ,having six equal sides4 ,,heterocercal4 ,applied to the tail of a fish1 means that the upper lobe extends farther than the under4 ,,heteropoda4 ,an order of univalve molluscs1 whose feet form a kind of fin4 ,,holoptychius4 ,a ,ganoid fish of the coal-measures4 ,,hornblende4 ,an important mineral in the composition of some rocks4 ,,homocercal4 ,applied to fishes having equal lobed tails4 ,,hornstone4 ,a variety of quartz found in volcanic districts4 ,,hyaline4 ,transparent like glass4 ,,hybodentes4 ,fossil fish4 ,,hyl,,osaurus4 ,fossil lizard of the ,wealden4 ,,hypersthene4 ,a mineral4 ,,hypogene ,,rocks4 ,rocks formed beneath others or which are assumed to have obtained their present aspect underneath the earth's surface4 ,,ichthyodorulite4 ,the fossil spine of certain fishes resembling sharks4 ,,ichthyolites4 ,fragments of the bones of fossil fishes4 ,,ichthyology4 ,the study and description of fishes4 ,,ichthyosaurus4 ,a marine reptile 7fish-lizard71 whose remains are very abundant in rocks of the ,secondary period4 ,,igneous ,,rocks4 ,rocks1 such as lava1 trap1 and some others which have been fused by volcanic heat4--,granite and other porphyritic rocks are sometimes called crystalline4 ,,ignigenous4 ,produced by fire4 ,,iguanodon4 ,extinct gigantic lizard4 ,,imbricated4 ,covered with scales overlapping each other like tiles on the roof of a house4 ,,inoceramus4 ,a bivalve of the chalk formation4 ,,inorganic4 ,not produced by vital action4 ,,invertebrata4 ,animals not furnished with a back bone4 ,,juncus 7in botany74 ,a rush4 ,,lacertians4 ,lizards4 ,,lacustrine4 ,belonging to a lake4 ,,lagoon4 ,a salt-water lake1 or part of a sea nearly inclosed by a strip of land4 ,,laminated4 ,arranged in thin plates or lamin4 ,,lenticular4 ,lens-shaped4 ,,lepidoides4 ,extinct fish of the ,oolite formation4 ,,llandeilo ,,flags4 ,a division of the lower silurian formation of ,murchison4 ,,lias4 ,a provincial name now generally adopted to designate the calcareous clay or clayey limestone occurring between the ,upper new red sandstone and the ,oolite4 ,,ligneous4 ,woody4 ,,lignite4 ,wood converted into an imperfect kind of coal4 ,,lithology 7lithos1 a stone2 logos1 a discourse74 ,description of stones4 ,,littoral4 ,belonging to the shore4 ,,lophiodon4 ,a fossil animal allied to the tapir4 ,,lycopodium4 ,a cryptogamous plant4 ,,macauco4 ,a four-handed animal allied to the ,ape family4 ,,mammalia4 ,animals that suckle their young4 ,,marl4 ,a mixture of clay and lime4 ,,marsupial4 ,an animal having a pouch1 as the kangaroo4 ,,mastodon4 ,a gigantic extinct quadruped resembling the elephant4 ,,matrix4 ,the earthy or stony matter in which a mineral or fossil is imbedded4 ,,mechanical ,,rocks4 ,rocks formed by deposition from water4 ,,megalosaurus4 ,a gigantic extinct lizard4 ,,megalichthys4 ,megas1 great2 ichthus1 fish4 ,,metamorphic ,,rocks4 ,rocks that have undergone change or metamorphosis since their original formation4 ,,metatarsal4 ,the part of the foot between the ankle and toes4 ,,meteorology4 ,the science of the phenomena of the atmosphere4 ,,mica ,,slate4 ,is the lowest stratified rock except gneiss--it is unfossiliferous4 ,,miocene4 ,the middle of the three divisions of tertiary rocks1 according to ,sir ,c4 ,lyell4 ,,molasse4 ,a provincial name for a sandstone associated with marl and conglomerates1 found abundantly in the great valley of ,switzerland4 ,it belongs to the middle tertiary period4 ,,molecules4 ,the ultimate particles or atoms of bodies4 ,,mollusca4 ,a division in ,conchology4 ,,monomyaria4 ,bivalve shells having but one adductor muscle4 ,,moraine4 ,a ,swiss term for the dbris of rocks brought down into valleys by glaciers4 ,,myricaci4 ,plants of the ,gale family4 ,,mytilus4 ,a marine shell1 the mussel4 ,,neuropteris4 ,a fossil fern of the coal-measures4 ,,nodule4 ,a rounded irregular-shaped mass4 ,,nucleus4 ,the solid center1 about which matter is often collected to form solids4 ,,nummulites4 ,a group of foraminiferous shells1 some of them of large size and very abundant1 occurring in rocks chiefly of the oldest tertiary period4 ,,oolite4 ,a limestone composed of rounded particles1 like the roe of a fish4 ,the name ,oolitic is applied to a considerable group of deposits in which this limestone occurs4 ,,organic4 ,exhibiting organization1 or the results of vital force4 ,organic remains1 or fossils1 are the remains of the animals and vegetables of a former state of existence found buried in rocks4 ,,ornithic4 ,relating to birds4 ,,ornithorhynchus4 ,a singular animal1 found in ,new ,holland1 called also the water-mole4 ,,orthocera4 ,a straight-chambered shell of the ,silurian formation4 ,,osseous4 ,bony3 ,osseous breccia is a conglomerate made up of bones cemented together by lime1 and mixed with earthy matter4 ,,osteolepis 7bone-scale74 ,a fish of the ,old red sandstone4 ,,osteological4 ,relating to bones4 ,,outcrop4 ,the line at which a stratum first shows itself at the surface in inclined deposits4 ,,oviparous4 ,egg-laying animals4 ,,pachydermata4 ,a group of animals so called from the thickness of their skin4 ,the elephant and pig are well known examples4 ,,pal,,oniscus4 ,a fossil fish of the ,magnesian limestone of ,england4 ,,pal,,ontology4 ,the science which treats of fossil organic remains2 it is the zoology and botany of the ancient conditions of the earth4 ,,pal,,otherium4 ,a genus of ,pachydermata allied to the ,tapir4 ,,pecopteris4 ,a fern of the coal-measures4 ,,pelagian4 ,belonging to the sea4 ,,pentacrinite4 ,a stone lily with five-sided foot-stalk4 ,,petroleum4 ,mineral pitch4 ,,ph,,nogamous1 or ,,phanerogamic ,,plants4 ,those in which the reproductive organs are apparent4 ,,phryganea4 ,a family of insects which breed in water4 ,,phyllolepis4 ,leaf-scale4 ,,physical4 ,literally natural1 but used in scientific language in treating of the higher and wider views of various departments with reference to the whole external world1 and not to mere human objects4 ,,phytology4 ,the department of ,natural ,history which relates to plants4 ,botany4 ,,placoid4 ,a group of fishes1 so called from the structure of their scales4 ,,planorbis4 ,a fresh water univalve4 ,fossil and recent4 ,,platygnathus4 7,greek2 platus1 wide1 and gnathos1 jaw or mouth47 ,,plesiosaurus4 ,an extinct genus of reptiles4 ,,pliocene1 ,,older ,,and ,,newer4 ,the upper part of the ,tertiary series1 so called by ,sir ,c4 ,lyell from the preponderance of recent shells in them4 ,,plumbago 7,black lead74 ,the name commonly given to graphite1 a form of carbon4 ,,plutonic ,,rocks4 ,rocks supposed to be due to igneous action at great depths below the earth's surface1 have been thus named by older geologists4 ,the igneous action is not manifest in such rocks1 but presumed1 as in the case of granite4 ,,polyparia4 ,a group of animals of which the coral animal is a well known example4 ,,porcellia4 ,the papaw1 a plant now called asimina4 ,,porphyry4 ,any rock having crystals imbedded in a base of other mineral composition4 ,thus granite is a porphyritic rock1 having crystals of feldspar and mica imbedded in a quartz base4 ,,predaceus4 ,preying upon other animals4 ,,prehnite4 ,a mineral4 ,,primary1 or ,,primitive4 ,this name is commonly applied to the rocks which underlie those that are manifestly of mechanical origin and contain fossils4 ,,prodectus4 ,a bivalve shell4 ,,pterichthys4 7,winged fish47 ,a fossil of the ,old red sandstone4 ,,pterodactyl4 ,a remarkable genus of reptiles adapted for flight2 its remains have been found in a fossil state throughout the ,secondary rocks4 ,,pteropoda4 ,marine animals having wing-like fins4 ,,pudding ,,stone4 ,the name often given to coarse conglomerates in which the fragments or pebbles are rounded4 ,,pyrites4 ,a name given to the combinations of certain metals with sulphur4 ,,qua-,,qua-,,versal4 ,the dip of beds in every direction from an elevated central point4 ,the beds on the flanks of a volcanic cone dip in this way4 ,,quartz4 ,the common form of silica2 rock-crystal and flint are examples4 ,,raceme 7in botany74 ,when the florets are arranged along the sides of a general peduncle4 ,,radiata4 ,a division of the animal kingdom so called because the body is frequently presented in a radiated form like the common star-fish4 ,,reticulated4 ,a structure of crossed fibers1 like a net1 is said to be reticulated4 ,,rock 7in ,geology74 ,any mass of mineral matter of considerable or indefinite extent and nearly uniform character1 is called in geological language a rock1 without regard to its hardness or compactness3 thus1 loose sand and clay1 as well as sandstone and limestone1 are spoken of under this name4 ,,rock ,,salt4 ,common salt occurring in a crystalline state in rocks4 ,,roe-,,stone4 ,the name sometimes given to ,oolite4 ,,ruminantia4 ,an important group of quadrupeds including those which chew the cud1 as the ox1 deer1 c4 ,,saccharoid4 ,having the texture of loaf sugar4 ,,saliferous ,,system4 ,the new red sandstone system1 so called from the salt with which it is associated in parts of ,england4 ,,saurian 7reptilian74 ,any animal of the lizard tribe1 and many extinct reptiles only distantly allied to these4 ,,sauroids4 ,marine fishes resembling lizards4 ,,salmonoides4 ,resembling the salmon4 ,,schist4 ,a name often used as synonymous with slate1 but more commonly1 and very conveniently1 limited to those rocks which do not admit of indefinite splitting1 like slate1 but are only capable of a less perfect separation into layers or lamin4 ,of this kind are gneiss1 mica-schist1 c41 often more or less crystalline4 ,,scirpus 7in ,botany74 ,a rush4 ,,scori4 ,the name given to volcanic ashes4 ,the word means any kind of cinders1 but its scientific use is thus limited4 ,,shale4 ,an indurated clay1 less fissile than schist1 but splitting with tolerable facility in plates parallel to each other1 and to the original planes of bedding4 ,,shell ,,marl4 ,a deposit of clay1 peat1 and silt1 mixed with shells1 which collects at the bottom of fresh-water lakes4 ,,serpula 7in ,conchology74 ,a worm-like marine shell4 ,,serrated4 ,having points like a saw4 ,,sigillaria4 ,fossil plants found in the coal-measures4 ,,silex1 ,,silica4 ,the name given by ,mineralogists to a pure earth1 more commonly spoken of as flint1 and1 when crystallized1 called rock-crystal4 ,,silt4 ,the name usually given to the muddy deposit found at the bottom of running streams4 ,,silurian4 ,the name given by ,sir ,r4 ,murchison to an important series of fossiliferous rocks well developed in1 and first described from1 a district in ,wales and ,shropshire formerly inhabited by the ,siluri1 a tribe of ,ancient ,britons4 ,,siphuncle4 ,a small tube passing through an orifice in the septum of a chambered shell4 ,,sphenopteris4 ,fossilfern 7leaf wedge-shaped74 ,,spheroid4 ,having a shape nearly resembling that of a sphere or globe4 ,,spirifer4 ,an extinct bivalve4 ,,stalactite and ,,stalagmite4 ,concretions of carbonate of lime and sometimes of other minerals1 as quartz or even malachite1 deposited by water dropping from the roof of a cavern or other vacant space4 ,,steatite4 ,soapstone4 ,,stigmaria4 ,a coal fossil1 an aquatic plant4 ,,stratification4 ,the condition of rocks or accumulated minerals deposited in layers1 beds1 or strata4 ,,strike4 ,the line of bearing of strata1 or the direction of any horizontal line on a stratum4 ,,superposition4 ,an expression very commonly employed by ,geologists to describe the order of arrangement when one bed or stratum reposes upon another4 ,,supra-,,cretaceous4 ,a term applied by ,sir ,h4 de la ,bche to rocks overlying the chalk4 ,the term ,tertiary is now universally adopted for this group4 ,,syenite4 ,the granite of the quarries of ,syene in ,egypt4 ,it is usual to call by this name any combination of quartz1 feldspar1 and hornblende4 ,,synclinal ,,axis4 ,the line of depression between two anticlinal axes4 ,,syncondrosis4 ,connection of bones by cartilage4 ,,terebratula4 ,a fossil shell4 ,,tertiary ,,strata4 ,the series of sedimentary rocks overlying the chalk1 or other representative of the ,secondary period1 and extending thence to the rocks of the ,recent period4 ,,testacea4 ,molluscous or soft animals having a shelly covering4 ,,thecodont4 ,a fossil saurian or marine lizard4 ,,thermal4 ,hot4 ,thermal ,springs are springs whose temperature is above the mean annual temperature of the place where they break out4 ,,tetrapterous4 ,four-winged4 ,,tibia4 ,the principal bone of the leg4 ,,toad-,,stone4 ,the name given by miners to beds of basalt1 occurring in ,derbyshire4 ,,trachyte4 ,a feldspathic variety of lava4 ,,trap4 ,crystalline rocks1 composed chiefly of feldspar1 augite and hornblende1 combined in many ways1 and exhibiting great varieties of aspect1 are frequently called by this name4 ,,trias4 ,the name given on the continent to the beds of the ,new red sandstone series4 ,,trilobite4 ,a common fossil in the ,dudley limestone1 so named from the characteristic species having the body divided into three lobes4 ,trilobites are the remains of a remarkable extinct family of ,crustaceans1 of which the crab1 lobster1 c41 are modern representatives4 ,,trionyx4 ,a genus of tortoise1 having three claws4 ,,tufaceous1 ,,tuff4 ,an ,italian name for a variety of volcanic rock of earthy texture1 and made up chiefly or entirely of fragments of volcanic ashes4 ,,turbinated4 ,shells which have a spiral or screw-like structure are thus named4 ,,unconformable ,,superposition 7instratification74 ,the condition of strata when one has been deposited horizontally upon the upturned edges of those immediately below4 ,,unio4 ,fresh water bivalve4 ,,vertebrata1 or ,vertebrated ,animals4 ,a large and most important division of the animal kingdom1 including all those animals provided with a back bone4 ,each separate bone of the back is called a vertebra4 ,,vertex4 ,the summit or upper part of a solid4 ,,vitreous4 ,glassy4 ,used in ,mineralogy to designate a peculiar luster4 ,,viviparous4 ,bearing young alive4 ,,warp4 ,the deposit of muddy waters4 ,,wealden4 ,the name given to an important fresh-water formation1 occurring between the ,cretaceous and ,oolitic rocks1 chiefly in the ,wealds of ,kent and ,sussex4 ,,whin-,,stone4 ,a provincial term applied to some trap rocks4 ,,zamia4 ,a plant allied to the palm1 plentiful east of the ,cape of ,good ,hope4 ,,zeolite4 ,a group of minerals which swell and boil up when exposed to the blow-pipe flame4 ,,zoophyte4 ,the term applied to some animals of low organization1 which1 during the greater part of their lives1 are attached to some foreign substance1 and are incapable of locomotion4