some of them from 50 to 100 miles in length, do not prove that they came from an ignited mass, what proof more decisive, would the Professor require? It is manifest (p. 4) that Werner is the leader of Professor Silliman's school, and the dictator of his geological creed, and he seems almost as reluctant to allow what he cannot deny, the igneous origin of floetz trap, as Werner himself was, who strangely refused, while at Paris, the repeated invitations to visit Auvergne. Some years ago, Sir George M'Kenzie published his travels in Iceland, to which the Rev. Mr. Conybeare, one of the very best of modern geologists, wrote some notes, defending the igneous origin of floetz trap, to the great dismay of Dr. Jamieson and the students who attended his Wernerian lectures at Edinburgh. Sir George wrote a tragedy, which the manager of the Edinburgh theatre got up, and it was performed. The mineralogical students of Dr. Jamieson determined, that a Plutonian neither could nor should have merit of any kind. The Neptunians collected at the theatre, and damned the play. They ought to have carried a flag with a motto on it, copied from that Neptunian poet, Pindar: agisov 'jev udwg. We shall quit this subject with a quotation from Mr. Poulet Scrope's Considerations on Volcanoes. "The brilliant theory (Werner's) of the precipitation, from one aqueous menstruum, of all the chrystalline rocks, now beginning to be reduced to its true value, is a striking example of the facility with which the most baseless hypotheses may be imposed on the scientific world as articles of faith, never to be called in question even in thought. Let us trust it will act as a warning in future."* No warning, however, has it proved to the Professor at NewHaven. That there are partial instances of siliceous and calcareous chrystalline deposition from waters, thermal and other, as at the Geysers in Iceland, the flints in the chalk, the quartz and chalcedonies in the floetz-trap geodes of Oberstein, the nuclei of chert in blocks of transition limestone. The calcareous chrystals in the veins and fissures of transition limestone, and the calespar and strontian in the lias of Lockport, are instances of chrystalline deposit on a small scale; but the jump from a few chrystals thus formed in au unlimited quantity of the solvent, and by long continued filtration, to the deposition of the whole series of chrystallized, primitive formations, from an aqueous solvent, is far too great for a reasonable chemist to * London, 1825. p. 280. venture upon. When we reflect also on the innumerable granite veins poured upwards into the solid body of the gneiss formation, and the slates-when we consider the innumerable cases of granite masses poured from below, uplifting the already formed transition and secondary rocks, and breaking through them or into them, as in the case of the Brocken mountain, the granite veins of the isle of Arran, and as the plates in every geological elementary work, and those of the geological society, to be found in Brande, Bakewell, D'Aubuisson, Scrope, &c. furnish instances of enough and in abundance-when we consider that the granitic ridges of almost, if not of every high mountain in the world, have been thus formed, (the Alpine ridges of Protogene recently) after the deposition of the transition and secondary strata-the pouring upwards of prodigious masses of granite through the rocks now resting on their sides, exactly as the dykes of floetz trap are poured upward from below through the coal-fields-when we consider the undiscoverable termination of perfect granite and perfect floetz trap in the same rocks, described by McCulloch-the basalt passing into granite and serpentine Val de Fassa in the Tyrolese Alps-it seems to us most strange how the igneous formation of granite, now so generally admitted among the geologists of Europe, could have been doubted so long. Professor Silliman published Dr. Cooper's Essay on the volcanic origin of Floetz Trap, which contains some stubborn facts. We have already mentioned, that among the views suggested for consideration by the strata of which the crust of the earth is composed, are, 1. Their succession to each other in the order of position and geological periods. 2. Their mineralogical composition. 3. Their characterizing imbedded minerals. 4. Their imbedded oceanic organic remains. 5. Their imbedded vegetable organic remains. 6. Their imbedded animal organic remains, oviparous, viviparous, amphibious, herbivorous, carnivorous, man. As to their order of succcession. There is over the whole of the earth's surface, an order of superposition, which the strata composing the earth's crust, have a manifest tendency to assume. But this is frequently interrupted. Very often strata that belong to a particular period of time, and range of succession, are wanting either wholly or partially. Sometimes there is reason to believe they have never been deposited, as is the case with the tertiary of Europe in respect of America. Sometimes strata have been deposited, but washed away by the vio 1 lence of successive deluges; but the strata that we know to be of recent formation, are never found subtending the older ones. Let there be a succession of strata A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, &c. &c. The stratum C, the stratum F, the stratum I, the strata K, L, M, &c. may be wanting from the causes just now indicated: but never do we find the stratum C, superimposed upon F, or the stratum E, superimposed upon K. In this respect, the order is never found subverted, unless by the accidents of avalanche, of boulder stone, or a doubie formation of some of the earlier strata. Thus the rock called Sienite, Hornblende or Amphibolic rock, appears often with the gneiss, sometimes reposing on the granite, sometimes on the gneiss; and another sienite (the Zircon-Sienite) of a more soft and disintegrated character, appears to have been formed toward the close of the primitive series, These apparent anomalies, however, furnish no difficulties to the travelling student. A series of strata having common characters, and clearly appearing to belong to one period of time, sometimes alternate; these series of strata are called formations. Thus the gneiss is found usually on the old or foundation granite, but sometimes the clay slate immediately covers the granite rock; sometimes greenstone, sometimes the magnesian rocks. Let A, B, C, D, E, F, &c. be a series of strata, possessing some obvious characters in common, that appear to give them individuality as a series. It may happen that D will repose upon A instead of B. It may be, that E or F may follow C, and that B and D in that region or locality may be wanting. Such happens in particular localities among the strata of the primitive and also of the transition series. There is no difficulty in accounting for this, from want of the stratum originally, or from subsequent destruction. The laws of succession and superposition are regular; but so also are the laws that have occasioned the apparent anomalies. All these were difficulties formerly, but they are better understood now. Hence, if a man suddenly finds himself placed with his foot on stratum E, he will know what strata, what subordinate beds, and what imbedded substances he may look for as he ascends the series of strata, or descends. The old arrangements, founded on Werner's, and still widely adopted on the continent of Europe and in this country, is into The primitive series: from the old granite to the primitive limestone, inclusive. The transition series: from thence to the old red sandstone, inclusive. The secondary series: from the old red sandstone to the upper chalk, inclusive. The tertiary series of the Paris, the London, and Isle of Wight basins. The volcanic series: ancient, modern. The arrangement lately adopted by the English geologists, to avoid the theoretical considerations which induced Werner to adopt the appellation of transition (while the earth was in transitu, or passing from an uninhabitable to an habitable state) is as follows: The inferior order of strata, including Werner's primitive. The submedial, from the primitive lime-stone to the old red sandstone, exclusive. The medial, from the old red sandstone inclusive, to the new or saliferous red sandstone, exclusive: characterized by including the mountain or carboniferous limestone, and all the bituminous coal-fields. The supermedial, from the bituminous coal-fields exclusive, to the upper flint-chalk inclusive. The superior, including the strata of the above named tertiary series to the alluvium. The annexed tabular view is somewhat altered, according to our own personal observations, from M. De la Beche's tables. Of the tertiary formation or series of rocks: the superior order of the British geologists. Found in the Isle of Wight basin; in the London basin; in the Paris basin, where it is about 500 feet thick; in Italy; and lately by Messrs. Muchison and Sedgewick at Gratz, in Carinthia, from 2 to 3000 feet thick. Mr. Lardner Vanuxem and Dr. Morton seem to think they have observed traces of it in New-Jersey, but much more investigation is necessary before this can be admitted. The New-Jersey country appears to us much more analogous to the Hastings or iron sand formation, but our opinion is too conjectural to be relied on in this respect. The same, or very nearly allied organic remains, as those of the tertiary and diluvial strata of the basins of Paris and London, of the Sub-Apennine hills, and of the shores of the Baltic, have been (we are told) recently observed in the same kind of strata on the banks of the Irawadda in the Birman empire, in the neighbourhood of the Brachmaputra in Bengal, and in Jamaica.* The Paris basin has been, upon the whole, the most thoroughly examined by Cuvier and Brogniart, and we shall, *Ed. Phil. Journ. therefore, with De la Beche, take that as a type of the tertiary or superior order. In the ascending series then, we arrive next at the SUPERIOR ORDER OR TERTIARY SERIES OF ROCKS. Strata. General PLASTIC Sandy clay Coarse limestone alter CALCAIRE GYPSEOUS UPPER UPPER OR FRESHWATER Organic Remains. Characteristic *Lignite with amber. Crocodile. Pla norbis, Lymneus, Physa, Paludina, Melania, Ostrea, with many others, both fresh water and oceanic, chiefly the former. Lamantin. Walrus. Cetacea. Plants. Nummulites. Cerithium, Lucina, Cardium, Vo nating with luta, Ostrea, Crassitella, Turritella, and many Cerithium giganteum. A marine marl, & rest- Second oceanic deposit. Siliceous and micaceous Shells are Oliva, Cerithium, Melana, Pectunculus, Ostrea, Citharea, Corbula, Fusus? sands & sand- Solarium? Crassatella? Donax? An oceanic stones resting deposit, 160 feet in depth. upon argilla ceous green marle. Variable. Fri¦ able, calcare Plants. Gyrogonites, Cyclostoma, Potamious marles, sides, Planorbis, Lymneus, Bolimus, Pupa, liceous mill- Helix. 60 feet in depth. FORMATION. stones (Buhrs) DILUVIUM. ALLUVIUM. Chert. Gravel, sand, Mastodon, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Elasmoclay; produ- therium, Horse, Deer, Ox, Trogontherium, ced by causes Megatherium, Megalonix, Tigers, Bear, Hynot now in æna, Hippopotamos. Cetacea. Elephas action. primigenius. * Rhinocerous trichorinus.Oceanic deposit. Gravels, sands, clays, produced by Remains of existing animals and plants; causes cow in and of the Irish Elk, whose present existence action, as riv- is doubted, (Cervus Megaceros.) ers, lakes, sea beaches, &c. Such is a very brief and necessarily imperfect sketch of the revolutions of the earth and animated nature. First. Many, many ages appear to have been occupied in the gradual formation of the earth's first crust, and the condensation VOL. VI. NO. 12. |