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Raleigh 
 
 ELEMENTS OF GEOLOGY, 
 
 K 
 
 WITH AN OUTLINE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 FOR THE USE OF THE 
 
 STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 NORTH CAROL1N1ANA 
 
 BY ELISHA MITCHELL, 
 
 PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY. 
 
 
 In the University of North Carolina. 
 
 
 1842. 
 
Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857. 
 Elements of geology 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface, ..---.-...3 
 Objects and Methods of Geology, ------ 9 
 
 Of the Earth as a Mass, - - - - - - - -13 
 
 Primary Classification of Rocks, ------ 18 
 
 Of Mineral Beds or Strata, - - - - - - -19 
 
 Composition and Structure of the Rocks — Werner, - - 21 
 
 Werner’s Theory, ---------22 
 
 Of Granite, --------- 24 
 
 Of Gneiss, ---------- 27 
 
 Of Mica Slate or Micaceous Schistus, ----- 29 
 
 Of the Simple Primitive Rocks — Serpentine, Limestone, Clay 
 
 Slate, etc., ---..----30 
 
 Of the Transition Rocks, - - - - - - -32 
 
 Of Argillaceous Schistus or Clay Slate, 33 
 
 Of the Sandstones, ---------35 
 
 Of the Secondary and Tertiary Rocks and Strata, 37 
 
 Of the Overlying and Volcanic Rocks, - - - - - 38 
 
 Influence of the Rocks upon the fertility of the Soils produced 
 
 by them, - -- -- -- --39 
 
 Of Metallic Veins and Beds of Valuable Minerals, - - - 43 
 
 Distribution of Metallic Veins and Mineral Beds, through the 
 
 Strata, ----------47 
 
 Secondary Strata of England, ------- 50 
 
 Of Fossil Salt and Gypsum, ------- 52 
 
 Of Mineral Coal, - - ------- 55 
 
 Theoretical Geology — Introduction, ----- 60 
 
 Hutton’s Theory, --------- 62 
 
 Causes of Geological Changes, ------ 64 
 
 Volcanoes, ---------- 69 
 
 Earthquakes, - -- -- .- -.75 
 
 Of the Causes of the Phenomena of Volcanoes, - - . - 77 
 
 Changes produced by Volcanoes and Earthquakes - - - 80 
 
CONTENTS. V. 
 
 I is lory of the Earth, -------- 81 
 
 Original Temperature of the Earth, - - - - 83 
 
 Temperature of the Interior, ------ 85 
 
 Hypothesis of La Place, ------- 87 
 
 Position of the Transition and Secondary Strata, 89 
 
 The effects of Earthquakes :md Volcanoes, - - - - 91 
 
 Origin of the Trap Kooks, - - ----- 93 
 
 Causes of the Elevation of the Strata, - - - - - 95 
 
 Formation of Vallies, ------- 97 
 
 Formation of the Transition and Secondary Strata, - - - 99 
 
 Animal and Vegetable Remains, - - - - - - 103 
 
 Scripture and Geology, - - - - - - -105 
 
 Tertiary Formations, - - - - - - - -107 
 
 The Deluge, - - - - - - - - - 111 
 
 Kirkdalo Cave — Comparative Anatomy, - - - - 115 
 
 Ancient Zoology, - - - - - - - - - 117 
 
 Literal Geography, - - - - - - - - 118 
 
 leology of North Carolina, ------- 123 
 
 Tertiary Strata, -------- 125 
 
 Secondary Strata, - - - , - - - - - 129 
 
 Sandstones, - - - - - - - - -131 
 
 Transition and Slate Rocks, -----.- 135 
 
 Primitive Formations, ------- 139 
 
PREFAC E . 
 
 A Treatise of Astronomy, adapted to tlie wants of the student living 
 upon one part of the earth’s surface, may be used with equal advan- 
 tage in all countries. The same sun and planets, and with some ex- 
 ceptions the same constellations, are seen in all the habitable regions 
 of the globe. Every country of considerable extent, requires its own 
 elementary treatise of Geology. For although the groat doctrines of 
 the science are every where the same, those proofs and illustrations 
 will be most convincing and satisfactory, that are drawn from strata with 
 which we have been long familiar, or which we may have an oppor- 
 tunity of examining for ourselves. A greater extension will also be 
 given to the account of the rocks of a particular age, in one country 
 than in another; to the secondary strata in the Stale of Tennessee ; to 
 the primitive and tertiary, in North Carolina. 
 
 The substance of the following treatise, has been read for some years 
 to the senior class in the University, but this mode of acquiring a 
 knowledge of the science not being satisfactory, the book has been 
 printed for their use, and is as large and full, as in the time allotted to 
 this subject, can be studied with much effect. As the successive les- 
 sons are illustrated in the lecture room, by the necessary plates and 
 figures, none of these have been introduced ; but as these elements 
 may find a few readers beyond the college walls, a map, exhibiting the 
 position and extent of the different rock formations of North Caro- 
 lina has been attached. It is only when the cultivators of this science 
 shall have been greatly multiplied, and there shall he men in all parts 
 of the country prepared to traverse it in every direction, and verify every 
 fact laid down by them, by repeated examinations, that the geology of 
 the State will be minutely and accurately known. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
„ J . 
 
 • OBJECTS AND METHODS OF 
 
 GEOLOGY. 
 
 1. Geology is l he Science which treats of the composition 
 and structure of the exterior crust of the earth ; the changes 
 that are now proceeding in it ; its condition in the most an* 
 cient times ; and the causes by which its existing form and 
 the present distribution and position of the materials of ivhich 
 it is composed , have been produced . 
 
 The great mass of the earth lying within the exterior crust is 
 not neglected, but the knowledge we have of it is very limited. 
 The objects and methods of this science are more fully explained 
 in the two following sections. 
 
 2. The different parts of the earth’s surface are unlike each 
 other. Some countries are spread out into level plains, and oth- 
 ers roughened with hills or studded with mountains, whose tops 
 rise above the clouds. If we descend from its exterior form and 
 moulding to the characters of the soil and the constitution of the 
 rocks, we find them equally various and dissimilar. Widely ex- 
 tended regions are fertile almost throughout, whilst others are 
 covered with sand, and doomed to remain in future what they 
 have been from the earliest ages — waste and trackless deserst. 
 Indostan and Arabia, advancing from the continent of Asia into 
 the southern ocean, do not differ greatly in size, the former being 
 by about one-fifth part the larger of the two: their latitude, and of 
 course their climate, so far as that depends upon nearness to the 
 sun, is about the same. Arabia yields a scanty subsistence to a 
 population of ten millions, whilst the soil of Indostan sustains 
 not less that twelve times that number. The sand hills and mid- 
 dle or back country of North Carolina, furnish an example nearer 
 home. The mineral riches of the earth’s crust are not less un- 
 equally and irregularly distributed, than the causes of productive- 
 ness and sterility. Limestone abounds in the state of Tennessee ; 
 only a few small beds of it have been observed in North Carolina. 
 The mountains of Pennsylvania contain coal enough to supply 
 the United States with fuel for ages. New England is nearly 
 destitute of this valuable mineral. For several years, about the 
 
 O 
 
10 
 
 OBJECTS AND METHODS OF GEOLOGY. 
 
 close of the last century, the single province of Mexico yielded a 
 larger amount of silver, than was drawn from all the other mines 
 of the world. The surface of the earth is constantly subject to 
 slight modifications and changes. 
 
 The object of one branch of this science, called Positive 
 Geology by some authors, and Geognosy by others, is, to ascer- 
 tain the different kinds of rock of which the exterior crust of the 
 earth is made up ; their distribution and mutual relations or situa- 
 tions with respect to each other ; the circumstances under which 
 we find the valuable minerals they contain, and the alterations of 
 texture and position which they undergo from age to age. 
 
 These ends are accomplished by a careful observation of the 
 common undulating surface of the soil and of the rocks it contains ; 
 of the precipitous sides of hills and mountains ; of mines and 
 other artificial excavations ; and of those points where the ele- 
 ments and subterranean forces are exerting their greatest activity. 
 
 ■3. A question arises whether the more lemarkahlc and impor- 
 tant of the peculiarities just noticed are coeval with the existence 
 of the earth, or the result of changes it has undergone since jts 
 formation. Did the Creator in I he beginning cover the plains of 
 Arabia "with sand, mingle in the soil of Indostan the elements of 
 lasting fertility, and place in the mountains of Pennsylvania and 
 Mexico the mineral treasures for which they are now explored ; 
 or have all these and others, been collected into the situations in 
 whicli we find them by causes that have operated in succeeding 
 times ? 
 
 Ample evidence will be furnished as we proceed , that the beds 
 of earth and rock forming the outer crust of the globe, and the 
 valuable minerals they embosom, are of different ages, and have 
 been deposited in succession. It will be sufficient for the present 
 to refer to the remains of shell fish and other marine animals that 
 lie imbedded in them, often on the tops of high mountains, and in 
 regions remote from the sea. 
 
 Limestones composed of shells from the ridges of hills in 
 Palestine. Those, wonderful stones of the temple at Jerusalem, 
 to which the disciples called the attention of Jesus Christ when 
 they drew from him a prediction of the impending ruin-of that 
 magnificence, abound in them ; and it is in rocks of this nature 
 that the ancient Jewish sepulchres arc excavated.* The pyramids 
 of Egypt are both founded upon and built of a kind of oolite, full 
 of small nummulites and other shells, once supposed to be petri- 
 fied lentils and other' seeds left by the workmen employed on 
 those stupendous fabrics. In most of the countries of Europe, 
 shells occur in greater or less abundance over extensive tracts ; the 
 mountains of China, according to the JesuiLs, are covered with 
 them, liamond observed them in the Pyrenees upon the summit 
 
 ♦Jamieson in the Edinburg Encyclopedia. The shells are probably not as 
 abundant in the rocks about Jerusalem as he represents them. See Sillimans 
 Journal, Vols. 'J and 10. 
 
OBJECTS AND METHODS OF GEOLOGY. 
 
 11 
 
 of Mount Perdu, 10,378 feet above the level of the sea ; on the 
 Andes they are seen at the height of nearly 16,000 feet, and 
 around the sides of the Himmaleh mountains at a still greater 
 elevation. In the United States they are of common occurrence, 
 but generally at lower levels, as in the states of Kentucky and 
 Tennessee, beneath the town of Wilmington and at other places 
 in the low country of North Carolina. Petrified fishes and other 
 marine animals are distributed, though more sparingly, throughout 
 the surface of the globe. 
 
 , These remains of living beings, of which not only the individual 
 Tias perished, hut the race has been for ages extinct, prove that 
 the existence of the earth has not always been marked by the 
 condition of tranquility and repose in which we now behold it. 
 They render it probable that the globe itself has been agitated by 
 violent convulsions, and certain that it has been subject to revo- 
 lution and change. They did not escape the notice and attention 
 of the ancients,* hut they were regarded with the less interest, 
 because they were held by many not to be real remains, but imi- 
 tative forms, produced by a certain plastic and generative property 
 residing in the earth, somewhat analogous to that which causes 
 vegetables to spring up and grow. In succeeding times they were 
 referred to a single catastrophe, (the, deluge) to which we have 
 the testimony of the sacred Scriptures, that the earth has been 
 subj'ected. But it is now ascertained that this account of their 
 origin is inadmissible. They are not merely scattered through 
 the loose soil, but imbedded in the interior of solid rocks, occupy- 
 ing an extent of hundreds -of square miles along the sides or on 
 the tops of mountains, and hundreds of feet in thickness. Such 
 vast masses could not have been collected and consolidated within 
 the space of less than a year, that the waters of the deluge covered 
 the earth. The genera and species occupying the different beds 
 placed in succession one above another are also different, by 
 which it is further proved that the causes by which the condition 
 of the globe has been changed, and the materials for the creation 
 of ranges of lofty mountains, prepared and elevated into their 
 present positions, have in more than one instance been active. 
 
 The object of the second great branch of this science, sometimes 
 denominated speculative or theoretical Geology, is — To discover, 
 bs far as possible, from the appearances presented by the rocks, 
 beds of clay and sand, and the animal and vegetable remains that 
 are imbedded in them, the nature of the causes by which they 
 have been formed. It embraces therefore the primeval history 
 of the earth, and an investigation of the number and kinds of the 
 revolutions and changes to which it has been subjected, and the 
 character of the agents by which they have been produced. 
 
 4. Positive Geology may he regarded as a branch of Natural 
 
 * Vidi facias ex atequore terras 
 
 Et procul a pelage conchse jaeuere marinae. 
 
 Ovid Met amor ph. Lib. xv. 263 
 
12 
 
 OBJECTS AND METHODS 0? GEOLOGY. . 
 
 History. Theoretical Geology, occupied in the investigation and 
 discovery of causes from their effects, belongs to Natural Philoso- 
 phy. But as many of the doctrines of the latter are derived from 
 the characters presented by organic remains, the connexion 
 between it and one department of Natural History is very inti- 
 mate. It is of importance to the modern geologist that he be well 
 versed in the science of conchology. Positive Geology, which 
 ascertains the facts on which many uC' the conclusions of the 
 other are founded and built, will demand our earliest attention ; 
 but in this science more than in most others, it is necessary to 
 bring forward facts, points of theory, and historical details, by 
 turns and in succession. Facts of first rate importance in the il- 
 lustration of our theories, are without interest when their bearing 
 upon the great doctrines of the science is not apparent, and not 
 only have opinions once generally held, but now abandoned, left 
 their impress upon the language it employs, but some ac- 
 quaintance with them is necessay to a correct understanding of 
 the works on Geology that are published in our own day, and of 
 the views entertained by the philosophers of the present age. — 
 A few general statements on the whole subject are first to be pre- 
 sented and some terms explained. 
 
 Astronomy, relating to bodies separated from us by an interval 
 (with a single exception) of several millions of miles, is the most 
 ancient, and Geology, having for its object the earth on which 
 we live, one of the more recent of the sciences. Nor is this re- 
 markable. The magnificence of the starry heavens drew to them 
 the attention of the early inhabitants of the earth. A connexion 
 was observed between the aspect of the sky, and the changes of the 
 seasons, the rising and setting of certain constellations, and the 
 return of spring or summer. The same tablet was spread out 
 for observation and study before thousands of curious and watch- 
 ful eyes on successive nights. It was soon ascertained that some 
 of the stars always maintain the same relative position, whilst 
 others wander through the whole circle of the heavens, and thus 
 the first foundations of Astronomy were laid. The earth on the 
 other hand, seemed to present little more than a shapeless chaos 
 as rocks and mountains, without beauty, or order, or value, except 
 to affording a dwelling place for man and other animals, and 
 nourishment for the vegetables used by them for food, and was 
 therefore neglected. 
 
 It is true that men had hardly begun to reason, before they be- 
 gan to speculate about the manner in which the world was formed ; 
 but they were not careful to establish their theories on a basis of 
 fact and observation. Years rolled on; in other departments of 
 knowledge vast accumulations were made, but Cosmogony — the 
 science of creating worlds, or showing how they might be generat- 
 ed or made, remained stationary, or nearly so, for many years. 
 Bacon appeared teaching the correct method of philosophising, 
 and Newton revealing the secret mechanism of the heavens ; but 
 
OF THE EARTH AS A MASS. 
 
 13 
 
 of .the composition and structure bf the globe, mankind remained 
 as ignorant as before. Wild, intricate, and tiresome romances, 
 
 Theories of the Earth, were published ; it was not till the middle, * 
 of the last century that the rules of the inductive philosophy be- ^ 
 gan to be applied with any considerable degree of exactness"' to *" ■ 
 the speculations of Geologists, and it is only within a very few - 
 years, that the method of arriving at accurate conclusions in this 
 science has been well understood. 
 
 Valuable observations arc scattered through writings of an ear- < 
 lier date? but they were neglected. It was between the years 
 1775 and 17BQ that Werner gave, at Freyburg, in Saxony, the 
 new impulse t6 the study of Geology, which has resulted in all 
 the recent improvements. In 1788, Dr. Hutton, of Edinburg, 
 brought forward a rival theory which immediately found zealous 
 advocates and supporters, and thus furnished the kind of stimu- 
 lus that was wanted to give interest to these investigations. — 
 
 Since the latter dale, there has been no want of industrious and 
 ardent observers, and if in so vast a'subject much remains doubt- 
 ful and unsettled, it is nevertheless true, that the conclusions at 
 which we have already arrived, are in the highest degree interest- 
 ing and important. 
 
 As affording a source of rational amusement and subjects for 
 observation and study in after life, if on no higher ground, 
 Geology and the different branches of Natural Hislory, are en- 
 titled to a place in a system of liberal education. They change 
 the whole face of nature. No spot is more welcome to the eye 
 of a botanist than a swamp or sand-hill, for there, are those plants 
 of uncommon form and singular beauty which impartial Nature, 
 scatters with lavish hand over such localities, whilst she denies 
 them to more genial soils. The more rugged and difficult a road 
 is, the more interesting docs it often become to the Geologist, for , 
 the strata are laid bare, and he can seethe composition, structure, 
 and arrangement of the rocks. Hut we shall presently see that 
 the science of Geology at least, claims our attention on far higher 
 grounds than these. 
 
 OF THE EARTH AS A MASS. 
 
 5. Our knowledge of the great mass of the globe is very limit- 
 ed, by reason of our inability to penetrate into its interior. The 
 only particulars in relation to it that have been made the subject 
 of inquiry and investigation, are, its form , density, temperature. 
 and composition. In regard to the two first, we may claim to 
 have made some approaches to accuracy and certainty, but res- 
 pecting the others, only to have formed conjectures of whose 
 truth and cprrectness there is greater or less probability. 
 
 6. Form of the Earth .- — It is commonly spoken ofas a sphere, 
 and by those who would be more precise and exact, as a spheroid, 
 having its equatorial about 26 miles greater than its polar diameter. 
 
 O Sfe 
 
14 
 
 OF THE EARTH AS A MASS. 
 
 But it is not a regular and symmetrical figure of any kind. The 
 ^.elevation of the continents, and especially of the table land* that 
 ^traverse them, produces one kind of inequality, and another is 
 created by the irregular distribution of the denser masses of which 
 it is composed. A large body of rocks of high specific gravity 
 rising nearly to the surface in any part of the ocean, will cause _a 
 bulging out of the water around that spot, and' the same cause 
 probably operates in modifying the figure of the exterior surface, 
 even in the interior of extensive continents. Lea viog ouLAif the 
 account the inequalities produced by the elevation .'of^the ■ land 
 above the ocean, it is not certain that the excess of the equatorial 
 over the polar diameter just stated, is accurate, though it is 
 supposed not to differ widely from the truth, or that the curvature, 
 is regular along any given meridian. Observations witli the.pen- 
 dulum and the actual measurement of arcs in different latitudes 
 indicate, not only a small variation in the law of ellipticity at 
 unequal distances from the equator, but also an inequality of size, 
 and dissimilarity of form in the two hemispheres on the opposite 
 sides of it. 
 
 7. Density of the Earth . — The mean density of the earth is 
 about five and a half, that of water being one. But the mean den- 
 sity of the rocks at its surface, is about two and a half. A mass 
 of granite, slate, or limestone, weighs, about two and a half times as 
 much as an equal bulk of water. As the mean density of the 
 earth is therefore, about double that of the common rocks, it fol- 
 lows that it cannot lie composed of those rocks in the state in 
 which they exist at the surface, but if the material of which it is 
 made be nearly the same in every part, that which is near the 
 centre must be condensed by the pressure of the superincumbent 
 mass into somewhat less than half the bulk it would occupy if it 
 . were at the surface. 
 
 The density of the earth was first investigated by Cavendish, 
 by means of a large torsion balance, and afterwards deduced by 
 Maskelyne from the effect of a mountain in Scotland, in with- 
 drawing the plumb line from the perpendicular. Cavendish states 
 it at five and a half. Playfair, repeating MaskelyDe’s calculations, 
 and applying some corrections that were neglected in the first in- 
 stance, found it to be 4.71. Laplace prefers the determination 
 of Cavendish. 
 
 When it was ascertained that the globe taken as a mass, so 
 much exceeds in density the rocks upon its surface, equalling in 
 specific gravity many of the metallic ores, men ventured to draw 
 the inference that it is a metallic body, enveloped in a covering 
 of soil and rock. They then busied themselves with conjectur- 
 ing what might be the nature of this supposed metallic nucleus, 
 observing that if it were a metal of mean density, it must consti- 
 tute between a quarter and a third of the whole mass, and if 
 iron, the half. Bakewell suggested that iron nearly' in the me- 
 tallic state may be one of its constituents, and that to this the 
 earth owes its magnetic polarity'. 
 
OF THE EAHTH AS A MASS- 
 
 15 
 
 But in a memoir read to the Paris Academy of Sciences, on the 
 4th of August, 1818, Laplace communicated some new views upon 
 the subject. From the results of observations on the vibrations 
 of the pendulum, he showed, that not only is the matter of the 
 interior of the earth more dense than whatsis at the surface, but 
 . the density goes on regularly and uniformly increasing fr<jm the 
 surface to the centre, and the densities are equal at equal distances 
 from the centre in all directions. 
 
 - These truths having been ascertained and settled, it appears less- 
 probable than before, that the high specific gravity of the earth is 
 owing simply: to its composition and to the existence of metallic 
 .matter in its interior. Upon this supposition the facts would re- 
 quire, not merely that the interior mass should be metallic, but 
 that the metals of which it is constituted should he disposed in 
 concentric shells, the lighter resting upon the heavier, and that 
 these shells should individually be of such thickness, as to produce 
 a regular and uniform increase of density as the centre is. ap- 
 proached. 
 
 The density of the gases is in proportion to the force by which 
 they are compressed. Solids and liquids do not obey the same 
 law, but there can be little doubt that they are all compressible 
 .in a greater or less degree. Laplace finds that if we suppose the 
 chemical constitution of the earth to be substantially the same in 
 all its parts, and that the specific gravity of the materials of which 
 it is composed, is moderately increased when they are subjected 
 to pressure, we shall be able to explain, without difficulty, all the 
 phenomena which depend upon the density of the earth. 
 
 8. Temperature of the Earth.— -It is found by observations 
 made in the mines of England, France, Germany and Mexico, 
 and in Artesian wells, that the earth is hotter at considerable 
 depths than at the surface. The temperature increases at a rate 
 which is different for different points, but is supposed to average a 
 degree of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, for about forty-five feet of 
 descent. If the heat continues to increase uniformly at this rate, 
 it is evident that the temperature of boiling water (212°) will be 
 found at a level not very remote from the surface, as also that at 
 the depth of a few miles, the rocks themselves are in a state of 
 fusion. The hot springs that gush from the sides of the moun- 
 tains in most countries, and of which there are several within 
 the limits of the United States, are a proof that an internal source of 
 heat is not confined to the central . and western parts of Europe 
 and to Mexico. This subject will receive a fuller discussion on a 
 subsequent page. It may be enough to mention here, that it is the 
 common belief of the ablest geologists, that the interior of the 
 earth is a mass of liquid fire. The mean temperature of the sur- 
 lace of the globe, is estimated by Sir John Leslie, at 6 7 degrees. 
 
 9. Composition of the Earth. — It is evident that the fifty-four 
 simple bodies must all belong to the mineral kingdom, and consti- 
 
16 
 
 OF TOE EABTH AS A MAMc s ', 
 
 . S ,■ 
 
 ' tute a part of the mass of the earth. Rut if the interior agree in its 
 composition with the exterior crust, no more than twelve are there 
 in^ny considerable quantity, the others being of rare occurrence, 
 2od entering sparingly into the composition of rocks of moderate 
 magnitude, in the localities where they are found. v 
 
 The twelve more abundant constituents of the earth’s crust are 
 Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Calcium, Magnesium — Hydrogen, 
 Carbon, Sulphur, Chlorine, Potassium, Sodium and Iron, of 
 which the first five are more common, and enter more largely, 
 than the others into the composition of the rocks. These are 
 arrauged in what is supposed to be the order of their abundance. 
 It is difficult to determine in regard to the remaining seven, what 
 are their relative quantities. These elements form by their union 
 about eleven binary compounds, (oxides and acids with a single ex- 
 ception) which are the proximate elements of the simple minerals ; 
 as these minerals are of the rocks that form the crust of the globe. 
 The minerals that constitute 99 one hundredths of the rocks, and 
 that have produced by their decomposition the soil of all coun- 
 tries, are not more than twelve in number, viz : 
 
 1. Indurated Clay, 
 
 2. Quartz, 
 
 3. Feldspar, 
 
 4. Mica, 
 
 5. Hornblende, 
 
 6. Ta!g, 
 
 7. Steatite, 
 
 8. Chlorite, 
 
 9. Serpentine, 
 
 10. Carbonate of Lime, 
 
 11. Sulphate of Lime, 
 
 12. Iron and its oxides. 
 
 These minerals will be further noticed in the order. in which 
 they have been mentioned, and a few of their distinctive char- 
 acters briefly stated. 
 
 1 . Indurated Clay. — Of this substance the common writing 
 and roofing slates, and many of the slate rocks that underlie the 
 central counties of North Carolina, may be cited as examples. 
 In these it exhibits a schistose structure, so as to be readily divisi- 
 ble into thin lamina;, and forms a simple rock by itself; but it 
 is often massive and associated with other minerals. 
 
 2. Quart: , is a mineral with which every person is familiar 
 under the name of white flint. It often occurs in considerable 
 masses, and under the form of small grains enters into the com- 
 position of many of the rocks, forming sand when they are dis- 
 integrated. The soil of the low country of North Carolina, is 
 mostly a mixture of quartzosc sand and clay. Fused with an alkali 
 and lime, or oxide of lead, it forms glass. 
 
 3. Feldspar, is easily recognised when we are once acquainted 
 with it, hut is not as readily distinguished as some of the others, 
 by a person ignorant of mineralogy, who has only a description 
 to guide him. It has not the glassy lustre of quartz, is less hard, 
 has a laminated structure, is commonly either white or flesh 
 colored. It exists under the form of coarse angular grains, in 
 immense quantities, in the northern and western or granitic coun- 
 ties of North Carolina, of which, along with quartz, it constitutes 
 almost the whole soil. 
 
^ oidie Linr^rv 
 
 - * - - ■ ^ • Raleigh 
 
 '~0» THE EARTH AS A MASS* 17 
 
 4. Mica, or as it is commonly called, Isinglass, is distinguish- 
 ed by being easily separable into thin, glittering, elastic plates or 
 
 ■* laminae. 
 
 5. Hornblende . — It is to the presence of this mineral in a 
 state of minute division, that the black rocks, called by the plan- 
 ters and farmers, iron rocks, owe their color. It also occurs un- 
 der -the form of small irregular crystals, disseminated through 
 other rocks, and when they are decomposed, it appears as a black 
 
 . sand, such as may often be seen in the roads after a rain. On 
 the banks of Salmon Creek, in Bertie county, isfound a black sand, 
 consisting of particles of hornblende, with hardly any admixture 
 of a different substance. This is the sand used to absorb the ink, 
 ,and prevent blotting when haste is required in the transaction of 
 business. In Ashe it forms whole rocks. This mineral abounds 
 in the black oxide of iron. 
 
 6. 7. 8. Tulg, Steatite and Chlorite, from their intimate re- 
 
 semblance, may be regarded as varieties of the same mineral. — 
 They all contain a considerable quantity of magnesia, to the pre- 
 sence of which they appear to owe their distinguishing characters. 
 They are all so soft as to be easily impressed by the nail, and 
 their powder has an unctuous feel. Talq is in thin transparent 
 scales like mica, but is not elastic, and has a pearly lustre. Chlo- 
 rite is so called from the Greek because the scales of 
 
 which it is composed, are always of a green color. Steatite is 
 common soapstone. 
 
 9. Serpentine, is in most cases easily "distinguished by its 
 structure, which is massive, its color, which is generally some 
 shade of green or yellow, and its hardness, which is such as to 
 admit of its being cut with a knife. It is found in the northern 
 part of Wake, and in the counties beyond the Blue-Ridge in 
 several places. 
 
 10. Carbonate of Lime. — Common Limestone needs no par- 
 ticular description. It is distinguished by the effervescence pro- 
 duced when a strong acid is poured upon it. 
 
 11. Sulphate of Lime, or Gypsum, is a recent rock, and has 
 never yet been discovered in North Carolina. 
 
 12. Iron is the coloring matter of most rocks and soils. 
 
 - V-ISc Water. — About three-fourths of the surface of the globe 
 are covered with water. The mean depth of the sea has been 
 estimated at two or three miles, but nothing is known upon the 
 subject. 
 
 These minerals compose the outer crust of the globe, and have 
 been described under the head of “ Composition of the Earth,” 
 because there is no evidence that its interior do not resemble (ex- 
 cept so faf as their condition is affected by their temperature) its 
 exterior parts. But it is the exterior crust of the globe that is 
 the principaLobject of the science of Geology, and this affords an 
 ample and interesting field for investigation and inquiry. 
 
18 
 
 PRIMARY CLASSIFICATION OF THE BOCKS. 
 
 PRIMARY CLASSIFICATION OF TIIE ROCKS. ' 
 
 10. All the varieties of rock may be separated into two great 
 classes. The members of one class agree in haring a crystalline 
 structure, more or less perfect, indicating that they have once 
 been in a liquid state, and that their particles have been united 
 by a crystallization that is confused, and partial, by reason of the 
 interference of one crystalline form with another. The members 
 of the other class are sometimes made up almost exclusively of 
 the exuviae of shell-fish ; but more commonly they are composed 
 of rounded pebbles, sand, and clay, that have proceeded from the 
 destruction of the older rocks, by different agents, and especially 
 by water, with only a few organic remains, occurring at distant 
 intervals, imbedded. These materials have been collected and 
 consolidated into masses, having generally, though not always, a 
 texture and aspect which betray their mechanical origin. 
 
 There is nothing in the appearances presented by these two 
 kinds of rock, to indicate that they do not alike descend to great 
 depths, and even penetrate quite to the centre of the earth. But 
 the operations of mining ; the scooping out of vallies in the solid 
 body of the continents, by causes that are now in operation, or that 
 have been active in former times ; and observations on the posi- 
 tion of the place of separation between them, have brought man- 
 kind acquainted with the structure of the crust of the globe, and 
 of the mineral masses that compose it. The members of the 
 second of these classes are found to form only a superficial cover- 
 ing uptm th6 top of the others ; the depth to which they descend 
 being, (at lea^t when compared with the whole radius of the 
 earth), but small. 
 
 From their position, resting upon and covering the others, it 
 has been inferred fhat they are of more recent origin ; that the 
 crystalline rocks were first formed ; that their upper portions have 
 been broken in pieces by the waves and other disintegrating 
 agents, rolled upon each other, and reduced either to small frag- 
 ments or to powder, and afterwards collected into beds and con- 
 solidated, forming the class of which we are now speaking. The 
 crystalline are therefore called primitive, and the fragmented, or 
 those having a mechanical origin, secondary rocks. Amongst 
 the latter, Geologists have found it convenient to introduce cer- 
 tain subdivisions, as the Transition, Proper Secondary, Tertiary 
 and Overlying or Volcanic, which will be noticed more particu- 
 larly hereafter. 
 
 It is perhaps true, that neither the composition and structure, 
 nor the situation of the secondary rocks, nor both taken in con- 
 nexion, would be perfcct’y decisive of their mechanical origin, 
 and of their having been formed subsequently to the others, if they 
 contained no organic remains. These remains are not found in 
 all the members of the class, but they pervade them so generally, 
 
19 
 
 OF MINERAL BEP8, OR STRATA. 
 
 and occur in so great a number, as to be decisive in regard to the 
 origin of the whole. If a rock made up chiefly of rounded peb- 
 bles, be found to contain imbedded shells, and another rock agree 
 with it most accurately in composition and structure, except that 
 the shells are wanting, there is ground for the belief that similar 
 causes have operated in the production of both. The distinction 
 between the primitive and secondary rocks is said to have been 
 first clearly marked and stated, by Lehmann, a German philoso- 
 pher, about the year 1756. 
 
 OF MINERAL BEDS, OR STRATA. 
 
 11. If a rapid stream empty its waters into a lake, it will carry 
 down and deposit upon the bottom of the lake, gravel, sand, and 
 clay, so that in the lapse of ages the hollow will be filled up and 
 the lake disappear. If we then dig into this mass of alluvial de- 
 posits, we shall find it made up of layers of different texture and 
 composition. Sand, gravel, and clay will succeed each other, 
 with a great variety in both the order and the thickness of the 
 layers. 
 
 The appearances which would be presented by the bed of a 
 lake, or an arm of the sea that has been filled up, are exhibited 
 on a much larger scale, by the fragmented or secondary rocks ; 
 but the different layers have a thickness that entitles them to the 
 name of beds. Instead of the words, bed, and beds, Geologists 
 employ the Latin, stratum and strata , having exactly the 
 same signification, and state respecting certain rocks that they 
 are stratified, ; meaning thereby, that they are in beds placed one 
 above another; and this is true, as well of the primitive asof 
 those that are secondary. The whole scries of rocks is therefore 
 divided with reference to their structure into two other great 
 classes; the stratified and unstratified. 
 
 . When a considerable portion of the crust of the earth, composed 
 of a number of strata, is taken into view at one time, it frequently 
 happens, that it is seen to be made up of a few large masses, bear- 
 ing little resemblance to each other, but the parts of which, 
 though with slight shades of difference, are much alike, and of 
 which it- is. therefore inferred that they were produced by the 
 continued operation of the same causes. Such a body of resem- 
 bling rocks is called a formation ; but much latitude obtains in 
 the books in regard to the application of this term. The body of 
 sandstone, lying east and south of the University, exhibits many 
 varieties of composition and texture in its remote parts, but 
 constitutes only a single formation.* 
 
 * The French language, richer in the terms of art and science than our own, 
 employs the terrain, formation, and snus-furmation ; the first being the 
 
 name of a j/enu4,'if which the others, are species and sub-species. A terrain 
 may inclu<jRw»*reTal formations. But complaint is made as of tbe English 
 word formation, that there is a want of precision in their application and 
 meaning. 
 
20 
 
 OF MINERAL BEDS, OR STRATA. 
 
 The rocky strata of the globe are seldom parallel, either to the 
 surface or to the horizon. It is but a small number of them that 
 it would be in our power to examine if this were the case. The 
 Himmaleh mountains on the north of Indostan, attain an eleva- 
 tion of about 29,000 feet. The mine at Uttenburg, in Bohemia/ 
 (the deepest in the world) descends 3000 feet below the surface. 
 It is probable that it does not reach the level of the sea ; but even 
 supposing it to penetrate 3000 feet beneath that level, it is evident 
 that but a small number of beds can lie between these -limits, 
 above and below. The number that would be exposed to view 
 in such a country as ours, is still more inconsiderable. Their 
 thickness would be represented on an eighteen inch globe, by 
 less than that of a single sheet of letter paper — the Himmaleh 
 mountains by less than four sheets. 
 
 The strata of the globe are therefore inclined to the horizon, 
 and sometimes at very large angles. Their position furnishes con- 
 clusive evidence of the violent convulsions by which the earth has 
 been agitated and torn. Their edges being turned up to the sur- 
 face, series of strata, hundreds and thousands of feet in 
 thickness are subjected to our observations within the limits 
 of a country that is either level or moderately uneven, and of 
 no great extent, and the evidences of the stratification of the 
 rocks are of much more frequent occurrence than if the position 
 of the beds were universally horizontal. 
 
 It is sometimes important that the position of the strata with 
 respect to both the plane of the meridian and the plane of the 
 horizon, should be accurately known. It is ascertained by ob- 
 servations, for determining their bearing and dip, of which the 
 former is measured with the compass, and the latter with an 
 instrument called the Clinometer. 
 
 . When Geologists first began to notice the position of the rocks, 
 they contented themselves with stating the quarter of the heavens 
 towards which the strata descended or declined, and in a very 
 general way, the amount of declination or descent. When great- 
 er precision and accuracy were introduced, it was found most 
 convenient to measure and specify the bearing and inclination 
 of the strata, and employ the word dipAo point out only the side 
 of the line of bearing on which they lie. If a bonk be placed in 
 an inclined position, with the back resting upon a table, the leaves 
 will represent inclined strata, a line passing lengthwise along the 
 edges of the leaves, will be the line of bearing, and another at 
 right angles to this, along the surface of the leaves, will be the* 
 line of dip. The plane angle, contained between the plane of the 
 leaves and the plane of the horizon, is called the angle of incli- 
 nation. 
 
 The situation of an incumbent rock, sometimes corresponds 
 more or less accurately, to that of the rock or str^woTV 0 which 
 it rests, the dip of the two being in the same direcw'fi, and the 
 angle of inclination also the same. This is what is called a con- 
 
COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE ROCKS WERNER. 21 
 
 formable position. When the angle of inclination is different, 
 the uppermost is said to occupy an unconformable position. 
 The unconformable and overlying position, is where a rock lies 
 over the edges of the other stratum. It is the position of lava, 
 and of basalt, from whence, as well as from other circumstances, 
 the latter is inferred to be of igneous origin. 
 
 COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF TIIE ROCKS. 
 
 12. The word rock, is used by Geologists, in a sense some- 
 what different from its common acceptation, for the large mineral 
 masses that form the crust of the earth, whether aggregated into 
 solid bodies, or not. The names and characters of the simple 
 minerals, which constitute the rocks, have been given. Whole 
 mountains arc sometimes formed, essentially of a single mineral, 
 as quartz or limestone. In other cases, two or more enter into 
 the composition of the same rock, as in granite; and are either 
 in a state of intimate mixture, or separate and distinct. The 
 masses thus formed exhibit several varieties of structure, as the 
 granular, slaty, laminated or tabular, cellular, which require no 
 definition ; porphyritic, when crystals or grains arc imbedded 
 in a homogeneous base, and amygdaloidal, where cavities in a 
 rock originally cellular, are filled with matter of a different kind. 
 
 WERNER. 
 
 13. The southern part of the kingdom of Saxony where it 
 borders on Bohemia, is rich in metallic ores ; especially in the 
 ores of silver, copper, lead, tin, arsenic, cobalt and iron. A school 
 of Mines is maintained by the Saxon king at Freyburg, within 
 the limits of the metalliferous district, for the education of such 
 persons as are to be employed in the extraction of the ores from 
 the earth, or in smelting them when brought to the surface of the 
 ground . 
 
 In this institution, Arraiiam Gottlob Werner, then twenty- 
 five years of age, received the appointment of Professor of Miner- 
 alogy, in 1775. * He became the benefactor of this science, by giv- 
 ing precision and accurracy to its language, as well as by his skill 
 in the discrimination of mineral species, and if his system of 
 description and classification are not perfect, we must not, in 
 estimating his merits, forget what Mineralogy was when it pass- 
 ed into his hands. But Werner is most extensively known and 
 celebrated as a Geologist. He created an interest in his own 
 favorite pursuits and studies, by pointing out the application of 
 a knowledge of the earth’s structure, to the practical purposes of 
 mining; yet it is not easy to account for the influence excited by 
 him for so long a period over the opinions of men. His oppor- 
 tunities ^g^ervation were excellent, and discovering that the 
 
 * He died at Dresden in 181". 
 
 3 
 
22 
 
 werner’s theory. 
 
 mineral masses of which the crust of the earth is composed, are 
 not distributed at random, but placed one above another in a 
 certain order of succession, and that mineral veins and beds occur 
 in some kinds of rock and arc wanting in others; he was led to 
 speculate respecting the causes by which they had been produced, 
 and to the formation of a Theory of the Earth. He published 
 but little, llis doctrines were communicated in his lectures, 
 delivered at Freyburg, to students collected from all parts of 
 Europe. These lectures were written out by thg most approved 
 members of his classes, and revised by himself, so that we have 
 accurate information respecting his opinions. 
 
 It is regarded as a decisive proof of the ability and merit of 
 Socrates, that he was able to inspire two such men as Plato and 
 Xenophon, with an attachment to his person, and a respect for 
 liis character and opinions, which led them to devote a considera- 
 ble portion of their lives to the task of recording the most strik- 
 ing incidents in his history, and illustrating his doctrines. A 
 corresponding evidence of transcendent genius, is furnished by 
 the influence exerted by Werner over the minds of his pupils. 
 What was most remarkable in himself, was an energetic determi- 
 nation ol all his powers, to the advancement of the kindred sci- 
 ences of Mineralogy and (leology, and he inspired them with 
 more than his own enthusiasm. They ransacked the continent of 
 Europe for illustrations of his theories and proofs of their truth 
 and correctness, and his doctrines were propagated by writings 
 and lectures throughout the civilized world. Since his death, 
 more extensive and accurate observations have made us better 
 acquainted with the crust of the earth, and his principles are one 
 by one abandoned, lie fell into the error of the early philoso- 
 phers, of generalizing from too narrow an induction of particulars, 
 and fondly believed the little mountains of Saxony, to present a 
 type of the world. Nor is this all. It is now ascertained that 
 he either failed to notice, or misinterpreted, many important ap- 
 pearances, even in the immediate neighborhood of Freyburg. — 
 Yet in every course of Geological lectures, the name of Werner 
 must be mentioned with respect, and his theories unfolded. The 
 subject is brought forward in this place, because some of the terms 
 introduced by him into the science appear in the following ac- 
 count of the rock formations, and his general scheme of arrange- 
 ment is adopted. 
 
 WERNER'S THEORY. 
 
 14. — - 1 . Primitive Jioeks . — Werner taught that in the begin- 
 ning, what -are now the solid materials of the globe, were dissolv- 
 ed in the waters of the ocean, so that the whole earth was a cha- 
 otic, fluid, or semifluid mass. In this, an attractivezeiretgy of par- 
 ticle for particle was presently exerted ; crystallizatit^Gfopimenced, 
 and immense bodies of rock were immediately consolidated, form- 
 
werner’s theory. 
 
 23 
 
 mg the central nucleus of the globe. But as in crystallization the 
 force of cohesive attraction prevails over that of gravitation, the 
 central nucleus did not form itself into a perfect sphere, hut shot 
 up into ridges, constituting the mountain ranges of granite and 
 other crystalline rocks that now traverse the surface of the globe. 
 
 The water being thus freed in part from the substances which 
 it held dissolved, there was a different play of affinities, and a 
 different species of rock , (gneiss), was formed and deposited ; upon 
 this a third, (mica slate), the successive strata extending them- 
 selves in general, like the coats of an union, quite round the globe. 
 It was only in a few situations, effected by peculiar circumstances, 
 that crystalline deposits of a limited extent, were formed. Thus 
 all the varieties of primitive rock came into being. 
 
 2. Transition Hocks. — The waters, still charged to some 
 extent with mineral matter, retired in part into vast caverns in 
 the central parts of the earth, and the mountains emerged ; in 
 part they became the abode of the lower orders and more imper- 
 fect kinds of shell-fish; they were agitated by furious winds, and 
 the fragments of rocks contained within their bosom, being rolled 
 one upon another were rounded, and finally collected into im- 
 mense beds, enveloping the exuviae of shell-fish, and consolidated . 
 Th'e primeval ocean also continued to deposit, though less abun- 
 dantly than before, the substances it still held dissolved, some- 
 dimes amongst the mechanical aggregates just mentioned, and 
 sometimes in separate and distinct layers. The transition rocks 
 are therefore partly crystalline and partly mechanical deposits. 
 They received this name because during their formation, the 
 earth was passing from an uninhabitable to a habitable stale. 
 
 3. Secondary Rocks. — The sea continuing to retire, its shores 
 became the habitation of the various kinds of plants and animals, 
 and eventually the secondary, made up chiefly of the ruins of the 
 older strata, were formed in a similar manner. With some crys- 
 talline masses and beds, they are generally of a more earthly tex- 
 ture than the transition, and embrace vegetable matter, retaining 
 sometimes its original form, and the exuviae of animals inhabiting 
 both land and water. They were called jlo'lz, or horizontal 
 rocks by Werner, because he supposed them always to occupy 
 that position. 
 
 4. Basalt. — Last, a great convulsion, a deluge supervened. 
 The waters of the ocean rose out of their bed, stood over the tops 
 of the loftiest mountains, and covered the whole surface of the 
 earth with a coating of basalt, which was however broken up, 
 and in a great measure swept away by them as they retired, leav- 
 ing only a few patches scattered over the rock formations of some 
 countries. This particular in Werner’s theory, appears to have 
 been added with the double purpose of bringing it into perfect 
 harmony with the sacred Scriptures, and of- accounting for certain 
 masses of basalt that repose on the summits of the mountains 
 between Freyburg and Bohemia. 
 
24 
 
 OF GRANITE. 
 
 5. Alluvial Rocks and Soil. — After the waters of the deluge 
 had retired, the rocky strata that had been left bare, were reduced 
 in some cases to a coarse gravel or to powder, and the finer par- 
 ticles washed down and deposited, intermixed with vegetable and 
 animal matter, in the vallics, either upon land or in the bed of the 
 sea. Rocks of volcanic origin, were regarded bv Werner, as 
 occupying too small a space on the surface of the earth, to merit 
 particular notice. 
 
 Such is Werner’s theory. As he was an excellent mineralo- 
 gist, and an earnest and intelligent observer, it may be expected 
 that whatever be the fate of his theory, the distinctions established 
 by him amongst the rocks, will commend themselves to the judg- 
 ment of the Geologists of succeeding times. One of his errors, 
 was that of allowing too little space and importance to the. forma- 
 tions of volcanic origin, and refusing to include basalt amongst 
 them. In the place of his class of alluvial, that of tertiary forma- 
 tions has been substituted, leaving the whole number still the 
 same. 1. Primitive, 2. Transition, 3. Secondary, 4. Tertiary, 
 5. Overlying or Volcanic. 
 
 OF GRANITE. 
 
 15. Our attention will be first directed to the primitive rocks, 
 and first of all to that, which according to Werner, was first 
 separated by crystallization from the original, semifluid, chaotic 
 mass; which is the central nucleus that underlies all the other 
 strata, which also pierces through them, and exhibits its rugged 
 and barren head, on the summits of some of the loftiest mountains. 
 This is granite. The other primitive rocks, gneiss, mica slate, 
 quartz rock, clay slate, limestone, and serpentine, will follow. 
 A few that resemble mica slate in their structure, but differ from 
 it in their composition, will be most conveniently treated of un- 
 der that title. These arc the chlorite, talcose, hornblende, and 
 actinolite schists. 
 
 Proper granite is a granular aggregate of the simple minerals, 
 quartz, feldspar, anti mica; the feldspar being generally the most 
 abundant of the three, crystalline in its structure and unstratified. 
 It has evidently been produced by an irregular and imperfect 
 crystallization. It presents itself at the surface of the earth, in 
 large masses, the sharp angles of which having been obliterated 
 by the action of the elements, they often make some distant ap- 
 proaches to a spherical form. The name it bears, appears to have 
 been applied without much precision to certain stones employed 
 in architecture and statuary, with reference to their granular 
 structure, before the time of Werner, and to have had its meaning 
 first fixed and limited by him to a particular rock. Besides the 
 proper granite just described, there is a considerable number 
 of rocks, like it of a crystalline and granular structure' and un- 
 stratified, but differing from it in their mineral constitution; 
 some containing hornblende, chlorite, or talc, instead of mica, 
 
OF GRANITE. 
 
 25 
 
 some containing only two ingredients, and others more than 
 three, all of which it has been found convenient to include under 
 the same general name. All the different forms of granite that 
 are to be described, graduate into each other, and they are often 
 to be found within moderate distances in the same rock. 
 
 1. Quartz , Feldspar arid Mica. — This is proper granite, and 
 the most common of all the varieties. It is sometimes rendered 
 porphyritic by large irregular crystals of feldspar, imbedded in a 
 fine grained mass, constituted of these three minerals. A beau- 
 tiful granite of this- kind, is seen on both sides of the Pedee, in 
 Anson and Richmond counties, between Old Mount Pleasant 
 and Sneedsborough. It occurs also in Lincoln county, between 
 Morganton and the Island ford of the Catawba. 
 
 2. Quartz , Feldspar and Hornblende. — This is what is 
 sometimes called Syenitic granite. It is found on the road to 
 Pittsborough, three or four miles from the University. 
 
 3. Quartz, Feldspar and Chlorite. — The name of Protogine 
 was applied to this and the next following variety, because oil 
 account of their being very abundant in the central masses and 
 pinnacles of the Alps, they were supposed to be amongst the 
 very oldest of the rocks; but as the granites of the Alps arc now 
 placed amongst the more recent formations of that substance, the 
 name is no longer applicable. Rocks resembling most intimately 
 the specimens of protogine, brought by Dr. Caldwell from the 
 vale of Chamounyj may be seen half a mile west of the Univer- 
 sity. 
 
 4. Quartz, Feldspar and TaQ. — Imperfect specimens have 
 been noticed half a mile beyond Haw River, on the road leading 
 through Randolph to Salisbury. It is common in the county 
 of Cornwall, (Ling.), where more than twelve thousand tons are 
 raised annually, under the name of China stone, or China clay, 
 for the supply of the English potteries. In this particular local- 
 ity it contains no iron, and its feldspar is therefore suitable for 
 the production of a porcelain that will come perfectly white from 
 the furnace. 
 
 5. Feldspar and Quartz. — There is sometimes an uniform 
 mixture of these ingredients, and sometimes the quartz and 
 feldspar are aggregated in lengthened parallel prisms, so that 
 when a piece is broken across the quartz prisms, the surface that 
 is produced presents the appearance of the characters used in 
 writing by some of the ancient nations. Hence it is called Graphic 
 Granite. Broignart says, that all the fine kaolins used in the 
 manufacture of French (?) porcelain, are derived from grophio 
 granite. 
 
 6. Feldspar and Hornblende. — This is a very important 
 variety of granite, offering an almost endless diversity of ap- 
 pearance, dependent upon the proportions, color, crystallization, 
 and mode of admixture of the ingredients. Some of its forms 
 have received the name of Syenite, from the town of Syene in 
 
 3* 
 
26 
 
 OF GRANITE. 
 
 Upper Egypt. A very hard and beautiful granite of a reddish 
 color, with black mica and a very small proportion of hornblende, 
 rvas quarried at this place by the ancient Egyptians. Cleopatra’s 
 needles and Pompey’s pillar at Alexandria are formed of it. Two 
 obelisks now at Home, have withstood the attacks of the weather, 
 and retained their original beauty after a lapse of three thou- 
 sand years. Werner, mistaking the composition of a specimen of 
 this Egyptian granite, and supposing it to be the binary com- 
 pound of which we are speaking, gave the name of Syenite to 
 those compounds of feldspar and hornblende, in which the latter 
 ingredient is in distinct and separate crystals. Ey some Geolo- 
 gists the name is restricted to rocks of this constitution , belonging 
 to the overlying or trap family. Very handsome primitive 
 Syenite, is found in a number of different places in the neighbor- 
 hood of the University. In this the feldspar predominates, and 
 is of a whitish color. But more commonly it is the hornblende 
 that is the prevailing ingredient, and communicating to the rocks 
 its own color, and the property, in consequence of the quantity 
 of iron it brings into their composition of decomposing into a 
 red soil, it gives rise to the denominations of black rock and iron 
 rock, by which they are commonly known. When the horn- 
 blende predominates greatly, and is crystalline in its structure, 
 the rock is the primitive trap of Werner. When there is a more 
 intimate mixture of the ingredients, it cannot be distinguished 
 from the greenstone of the old red sandstone formation, and 
 finally, it is sometimes of so compact and uniform a structure that 
 it has all the mincralogical characters of basalt, of which the na- 
 tural walls in Rowan arc an example. 
 
 7. Granite composed of four Ingredients . — Of the granites 
 containing four ingredients, and other rare and uncommon 
 varieties, it will be enough to remark, that almost any four of the 
 constituents of this rock, quartz, feldspar, mica, hornblende, 
 chlorite, talc, and some other minerals, may sometimes be found 
 associated with each other, and that the glassy and compact are 
 sometimes, though rarely, substituted for common feldspar. 
 
 According to McCulloch, granite is an unstratified rock, and, 
 in general, it exhibits no traces of stratification. Yet it is said by 
 Jamieson to he sometimes stratified. This appears to be the case 
 with some of the granites of Wake county , between Raleigh and the 
 Neuse river, if not with others in the state of North Carolina. 
 Granite is frequently divided by seams or fissures into beds, prisms, 
 and cuboidal masses. When into prisms, it is called columnar 
 granite, of which there is an example on Ilaw River, between 
 Chapel Hill and Pittsborough. Ralls of a very hard and indes- 
 tructible granite are sometimes imbedded in a softer variety, 
 which undergoing decomposition, permits the balls to fall out. 
 This kind of structure may be seen at the mill, a mile N. East 
 from Rockingham, in Richmond county. That of Corsica, where 
 this variety first attracted attention, is particularly remarkable for » 
 
OF GNEISS. 
 
 27 
 
 being disposed in concentric layers. Granite is often traversed 
 by veins. 
 
 A great diversity of aspect is exhibited by different granites, 
 even where the ingredients are the same, depending upon the 
 color of the ingredients, the greater or less perfection of their 
 crystallization, and the size of the grains. Some undergo decom- 
 position rapidly, and to a great depth, as in Caswell. Good mill 
 seats are rare where the rocks have this character. Other granites 
 remain unchanged, though exposed to the action of the elements 
 for a very long time. The Hat rocks of Franklin, Rowan, and 
 Stokes, furnish a striking illustration. Whilst the crust of the 
 globe about them has been converted into soil, they have remained 
 apparently unchanged from the time of their formation to the 
 present day. They have a vegetation of their own. Plants are 
 found growing upon them that arc not met with elsewhere for 
 many miles, and some that are altogether peculiar to them. 
 
 Granite is a common and widely distributed rock. It occurs 
 in almost every great range of mountains, of which it generally 
 forms the central and highest parts, having the more recent 
 formations resting upon it. It occupies a lower level in America 
 than on the eastern continent. With the exception of Mont- 
 gomery, where, if it exists at all, it is recent and imperfectly 
 characterized, there is no one of the upper counties of North 
 Carolina, that does not contain more or less of it. Werner sup- 
 posed all the granite rocks to have been formed contempora- 
 neously, and to be therefore of the same age. It is quite certain 
 that this is not true. The granite of the eastern and western 
 counties, Warren, Franklin, Wake, Lincoln, Rutherford, Burke, 
 Wilkes and Surrey, appears to be older than that occupying a 
 part of the intervening space in Granville, Orange, Caswell, 
 Guilford, Davidson, Rowan, Cabarrus and Mecklenburg. 
 
 The minerals that are found imbedded in granite are numerous, 
 but in general not valuable. It is not rich in the metallic ores. 
 The tin mines of Cornwall and of Saxony, are in granite, and it. 
 also embraces beds of iron ore. This rock is indeed so widely- 
 distributed over the surface of the globe, that it was to be ex- 
 pected that on searching the whole world over, mines of most 
 of the metallic ores would be found in it; but where they 
 exist they are generally poor, and will not repay the expense 
 and labor of working them. 
 
 OF GNEISS. 
 
 1(5. The second rock in the Wernerian arrangement is gneiss, 
 which is said to rest upon and cover the granite, and to be 
 itself covered by the other strata. The minerals which enter 
 into its composition are the same witli those that form granite, 
 but the proportions are different and they are differently arranged. 
 Proper gneiss is constituted of quartz, feldspar, and mica. The 
 mica is frequently more abundant than in granite, and is so d is- 
 
28 
 
 OF GNEISS. 
 
 posed that there is at least an approach to parallelism amongst 
 its laminae. In general also, instead of being dispersed through 
 the whole body of the rock, it is separated from the other ingre- 
 dients into plates or seams, by which the granular compound of 
 quartz and feldspar is divided into tables of greater or less thick- 
 ness, so that if a small piece of gneiss be examined, it will appear 
 to be granular and massive, if a large mass be subjected to obser- 
 vation, it will as evidently be stratified and slaty. 
 
 For mica, there is often substituted in the composition of gneiss, 
 hornblende, and sometimes, though rarely, tal^, chlorite, or argil- 
 lite. The variety containing hornblende is found abundantly 
 amongst the mountains in the western part of North Carolina. 
 Besides the varieties produced by the substitution of these sub- 
 stances for the mica, there are many others created by the dis- 
 appearance, or by some modification of the arrangement of the 
 quartz and feldspar, so that the rock passes into granite on the 
 one hand, and into the formations to be immediately noticed, 
 mica slate and quartz rock, on the other. Like granite, it is 
 rendered porphyritic by the superaddition of large crystals of 
 feldspar, and takes the name of porphyritic gneiss. Fine exam- 
 ples of this may be seen at Graham’s furnace and in other parts of 
 Lincoln county, and in the ascent of the Blue-Ridge, by the way 
 of the Hickory-nut gap, in Rutherford county. The court-house 
 in Burke, is built of this variety. 
 
 That variety of gneiss which abounds in mica, has less firmness 
 and solidity than granite, it is less beautiful, but being divided by 
 the seams of mica into tallies, it is quarried with greater ease, and 
 if it be of a kind that will stand the weather, in which particular, 
 gneiss is generally superior to granite, it is in request as a buil- 
 ding stone, and for other economical purposes. A quarry of the 
 hornblende variety has been explored for many years, at' Durham, 
 in the state of Connecticut. It is raised in tables, varying from 
 an inch to two or Ihree inches in thickness, and shipped to the 
 large cities along the coast, where, on account of the evenness of 
 its surface, it is much esteemed as a flagging stone. Gneiss is 
 one of the most widely distributed of the rocks. In North Caro- 
 lina it is found along the Cape Fear in the upper part of Cum- 
 berland, and in the western counties. 
 
 The crystalline mineral forms, which arc sought after with so 
 much eagerness by collectors, and esteemed the most valuable 
 ornaments of our mineralogical cabinets, are not as numerous and 
 abundant in gneiss as in granite; but it often embraces extensive 
 formations of other rocks, as limestone, porphyry, compact- 
 feldspar, and quartz, and it is rich in the metallic ores. .Most of 
 the metals occur in it, sometimes in beds, but more frequently in 
 veins. Many of the mines of Germany and Sweden are in 
 gneiss. The most valuable beds of iron ore, in the western part 
 of North Carolina, are in a region where gneiss abounds, but the 
 ore is frequently in immediate contact with some other rock. 
 
OF MICA SI.ATEj OR MICACEOUS SCIIISTUS. 
 
 29 
 
 OF MICA SLATE, OK MICACEOUS SCIIISTUS. 
 
 17. The characters by which granite and gneiss arc determined 
 and distinguished from other rocks, are drawn from their struc- 
 ture, rather than their composition. The proportion of the in- 
 gredients may vary, one of them may disappear and be replaced 
 by another mineral, and still the application of the same common 
 name, involves no absurdity, and produces no obscurity. The 
 hornblende, chlorite, or talc, which takes the place of the mica, 
 
 ; effects but an inconsiderable change in the appearance and cha- 
 racters of these, as distinguished from other rocks, and forms, 
 
 ; therefore, only an unimportant variety. But in the combinations 
 that are immediately to follow, these substances, instead of occu- 
 pying a subordinate place, become the predominant ingredient, 
 and give rise to well marked and important distinctions. There 
 is therefore a necessity for the separation of rocks, apparently 
 of the same age, alike in their structure, and dillering in the same 
 way, that mere varieties of granite and gneiss differ from each 
 other, into five or six distinct species — mica slate, quartz rock, 
 hornblende schist, chlorite schist, and talcosc schist, to which 
 McCulloch adds actinolitc schist. All these have a schistose 
 structure, more or less perfect. 
 
 Mica Slate, or Micaceous Schist , succeeds to gneiss in the 
 Wernerian arrangement. I Is essential ingredients are mica and 
 quartz. By the loss of one of those, the substitution of another 
 mineral, or the acquisition of a third, it passes into quartz rock, 
 the other varieties of schist, and gneiss. Like gneiss, it embra- 
 ces subordinate beds of serpentine and limestone, and like it, is 
 also rich in the metallic ores. The laminae of which it is com- 
 posed, often present numerous undulations and contortions. Of 
 the earthy minerals, that in which it most abounds, is garnet, 
 which is sometimes so abundant as to equal in quantity the in- 
 cluding rock. Well characterized mica slate does not occur in 
 i North Carolina, except in the upper part of Cumberland, and in 
 I the western counties. It may be seen near the dividing line of 
 -• Rockingham and Stokes on the south side of Dan river, in Sur- 
 | rey, Lincoln, Ashe, and Buncomb, where it sometimes contains 
 1 octahedral crystals of the oxide of iron, in such quantities as to 
 f constitute a valuable ore of that metal. 
 
 Quartz Rock, was regarded by geologists as a variety of mica 
 slate, and treated of under that title until it was separated by Dr. 
 McCulloch, and had assigned to it a place amongst the rocks, to 
 which, from the space it occupies in the crust of the globe, it is 
 well entitled. It is a stratified rock, consisting either of pure 
 quartz, compact or granular, or of grains of quartz and feldspar, 
 or quartz and mica. It seldom contains any imbedded minerals, 
 whether metallic or earthy. The granular variety sometimes 
 admits of a considerable motion amongst its particles, without 
 being broken, constituting a flexible sandstone, of which Stokes 
 
30 OF THE SIMPLE PRIMITIVE ROCKS — SERPENTINE, ETC. 
 
 county furnishes examples. Quartz rock is reduced to powder, 
 and used in the manufacture of glass, and in Lincoln it is pre- 
 ferred to every other substance in the construction of their iron 
 furnaces. It occurs about ten miles from Raleigh, on the road 
 leading to Chapel Hill. In the Pilot, Sawra-town, and King's 
 Mountains, it prevails almost to the exclusion of every other 
 substance. They have also the insulated appearance, and ten- 
 dency to a conical form, mentioned by Brande, as characteristic 
 of mountains formed of this rock. 
 
 Hornblende Schist, is a stratified rock, composed either of 
 pure hornblende, or of hornblende and feldspar. It is the 
 primitive greenstone of some Geologists. The hornblende it 
 contains communicates to it a dark color, by which it is always 
 characterized. It seldom contains any imbedded minerals. It 
 has been met with about the falls of Neuse; an imperfect and ill 
 defined variety occurs in the eastern part of Davidson county; it 
 is also found amongst the western mountains, as around Jefferson 
 in Ashe county, where it is associated with gneiss. 
 
 Chlorite Schist, is constituted either of simple chlorite, or of 
 chlorite and quartz, and is easily distinguished by its green color. 
 It appears to underlie the sand of the low country, near its upper 
 border, through the counties of Johnston and Cumberland, as it is 
 found in the banks and beds of the Neuse at Smithfield, of the 
 Cape Fear, above Averysboro’, and of Lower-Little-Ri ver, at the 
 mills, formerly owned by Col. Benjamin Williams. It occurs 
 also in Wake, Orange, and the western counties. 
 
 Talcose Schist, differs from the last in containing talg, in- 
 stead of chlorite. It is not a common rock, but is found in Ashe, 
 in the Meat-camp settlement, where it contains oxydulous iron, 
 and in the northern part of Wake, not far from the Neuse. There 
 is a rock on the road leading from Raleigh to the University, at 
 the distance of from six to nine miles from the city, which seems 
 to hold an intermediate place between micaceous and talcose 
 schist. It has an unctuous feci, indicating the presence of a quan- 
 tity of magnesia, and at some points embraces beds and masses 
 of plumbago. 
 
 OF THE SIMPLE PRIMITIVE ROCKS— SERPENTINE, 
 LIMESTONE, CLAY SLATE, Etc. 
 
 18. These require no description, other than what they have 
 already received. Serpentine occurs almost exclusively amongst 
 the primitive rocks, where it seldom forms very considerable 
 masses. It abounds in imbedded minerals. It is found in the 
 northern part of Wake, and in the counties west of the Blue- 
 Ridge. Steatite and compact-feldspar, enter as members of both 
 the primitive and transition strata, whilst limestone, quartz, and 
 argillite or clay slate, under some of their forms, extend through 
 
OF THE SIMPLE PRIMITIVE BOCKS SERTENTINE, ETC. 31 
 
 the whole series of formations, from the primitive (limestone and 
 quartz from the most ancient primitive) to the most recent allu- 
 vial ; nor is it possible, often, to tell, with mere hand specimens 
 before us, to which of the great classes one of these rocks belongs. 
 Thus the argillite at Barbee’s mill, might be regarded as primitive, 
 until we find it alternating with rocks that are beyond all doubt 
 transition — and so of the hornstone, until we find it graduating 
 into, and forming part, of a rock that is made up of pebbles and 
 sand. 
 
 In all these cases the rule of morals, “ noscilur a socio ” — its 
 character may be determined by observing that of its associates, 
 is to be applied. Wherever we find well characterized granite, 
 gneiss, or mica slate, the mass of the mountains in which those 
 rocks, occur is to be regarded as primitive, until facts are pro- 
 ' duced which prove parts of them to be of more recent origin. 
 Subordinate beds of argillite, hornstone, compact-feldspar, lime- 
 stone, serpentine, or quartz, amongst those primitive rocks, are 
 to lie presumed to be themselves primitive, whilst the same sub- 
 stances associated with transition rocks, are to be regarded as 
 transition. Small bodies of rock, having the distinctive charac- 
 ters of argillite, are found amongst the primitive mountains of 
 the western counties. It abounds in our transition strata. Pri- 
 mitive limestone is rare, but there arc beds of it in Stokes, Sur- 
 rey, and Buncond), where it is raised and burnt into quicklime. 
 Primitive soapstone is found in Warren, Wake, Iredell, and pro- 
 bably in many other counties. Compact-feldspar occurs amongst 
 the recent primitive rocks on Chapel Hill. 
 
 Before proceeding to the transition rocks, it may he remarked 
 respecting the class we have just finished, that the granite gene- 
 rally underlies all the others, as the Wernerian theory requires ; 
 but not always. It frequently rests upon both gneiss and mica 
 slate, or alternates with them. The lowest of all the rocks, the 
 floor or foundation stone, upon which the others rest, is supposed 
 j in all cases to be granite. On this is superimposed a stratum of 
 j gneiss or mica slate, then a layer of granite, upon which comes 
 ! a stratum of the other member of the series. Granite also tra- 
 ] verses the other rocks, under the /arm of veins. The must 
 ; decisive evidence is furnished, ivhcrc this occurs, that the im- 
 f perfect crystallization it exhibits, is not as JVcrncr supposed, 
 \ from aqueous solution, but is the result of cooling from an 
 igneous fusion. These veins must also be more recent than the 
 including rock. In the Western mountains, the granite, gneiss, 
 and mica slate, are contemporaneous formations, as is proved 
 by the fact of their alternating with and passing into each other 
 in a thousand different ways. These changes are particularly 
 remarkable on the road from Wilkesboro’ to Jefferson, in the 
 ascent of the Blue-Ridge. All granite. is not of the same age, or 
 was not formed at one time. The granite of Chapel Hill is more 
 recent than that of Wake or Wilkes. 
 
32 
 
 OF THE TRANSITION ROCKS. 
 
 OF TIIE TRANSITION ROCKS. 
 
 19. The transition are distinguished from the primitive rocks, 
 either by being made up of the rounded fragments and ruins of 
 more ancient formations, or by their resting upon and covering 
 rocks that are so constituted : and from the secondary, by the 
 absence of organic remains, or their containing such only as be- 
 long to the lower races, and more imperfect forms of animal life. 
 By some geologists this division is rejected, and its members re- 
 ferred to the primitive class. They divide the whole series of for- 
 mations into four great classes, the primary, secondary, tertiary 
 (embracing very recent deposits of sand, clay, and shells) and 
 overlying , including the products of volcanoes. No very valid 
 reasons are offered for the exclusion of the transition class. It 
 is said that there are no fixed and manifest lines of demarcation 
 and boundary, by which to separate the transition from the primi- 
 tive rocks on the one hand, and from the secondary, on the other. 
 But the same difficulty occurs, however numerous or few the 
 classes we form. From the era of the formation of the most an- 
 cient rocks, (whether by the hand of the Deity, or the agency of 
 second causes) to the present time, the forces have been in 
 constant activity, by which the condition of the crust of the globe 
 has been changed, existing strata destroyed, and new ones formed 
 and consolidated out of their ruins. There has been no interval 
 of repose, the closing event of an antecedent order of tilings, and 
 the prccurser of a new ; such an epoch in the history of nature, 
 that the strata formed before and after it, fall of themselves into 
 classes, separated by well marked and important distinctions. 
 The object of our classification of the rocks, must therefore be, 
 to separate the long chain of events, reaching from the remotest 
 period of time to the present day, and the effects — the rocky 
 strata they have created and left behind them — into such portions 
 and families as may be conveniently associated with each other. 
 Geologists will differ in their views of expediency in the case, 
 according to the nature of the formations about them, and with 
 which they are familiar. Where the transition rocks occupy but 
 a small space, they will be merged in the primitive class ; but 
 where, as in North Carolina, it is the secondary class that disap- 
 pears in a great measure, if not entirely, we may be excused if 
 we retain the old landmarks of the science, and distribute the 
 rocks into five classes, the primitive, transition , secondary, ter- 
 tiary, and overlying or volcanic. 
 
 The rocks of the transition are less distinctly characterized than 
 those of the primitive class. Where, as in the case of limestone, 
 argillite, and soapstone, varieties of the same simple mineral enter 
 as members of the two formations, that belonging to the transi- 
 tion is generally characterized by a more earthy aspect, and less 
 crystalline structure. There are three or four kinds only of tran- 
 
OF ARGILLACEOUS SCHISTUS OR CLAY SLATE. 
 
 33 
 
 sition rocks, agreeing in Ibis one particular, that they are formed 
 principally of the consolidated fragments and ruins of older for- 
 mations, which will require a particular description. They pass 
 into each other by insensible shades, and though in some cases 
 it is easy, it is in others impossible to determine, by its mincra- 
 logical or natural-historical characters, to what divison a given 
 specimen is to be referred. They arc all included by McCulloch, 
 under the single denomination of Ar gillaceous Schistus, of which 
 he regards them as mere varieties. 
 
 OF ARGILLACEOUS SCIIISTUS OR CLAY SLATE. 
 
 20. This substance affords a good illustration of the difficulty 
 just stated, of separating the strata of the globe into well defined 
 and distinct classes. It generally covers granite, gneiss, mica 
 slate, and the other rocks that are unquestionably primitive; from 
 which it is inferred that it is itself of more recent or igin. Hut 
 it also alternates, though in beds generally of inconsiderable thick- 
 ness, with those substances, shewing that it had begun to be de- 
 posited, whilst the causes that gave being to those rocks were 
 still in operation. On the other hand, small beds of granite, gneiss, 
 and mica slate, occur amongst strata that are made up of the frag- 
 ments of older rocks, proving that the formation of rocks by the 
 agency of chemical affinity did not suddenly and entirely cease 
 when the mere mechanical aggregates began to be deposited. 
 
 Under the single denomination of argillaceous schistus, Mc- 
 Culloch includes, as has been stated, a number of substances un- 
 like each other, and that have heretofore been treated as distinct 
 species. They are gener ally mechanical aggregates. They differ 
 in composition and the fineness of their constituent particles or 
 fragments, but are so intimately associated and pass into each 
 other by such insensible gradations, and at such moderate dis- 
 tances, that it is thought they should be regarded only as forms 
 of the same rock. A few of the more common and marked va- 
 rieties will require a particular notice. 
 
 Proper rfr^'d/ite or Clap Slate, is a common substance in 
 North Carolina, where it generally exhibits a disposition to split 
 by the action of the weather or of mechanical force into thin 
 laminae, though some varieties merely separate into tables which 
 are without any indications of a schistose structure. It enters 
 largely into the composition of the great transition formation that 
 stretches through the central counties. The part of this forma- 
 tion lying in Anson and Mecklenburg is made up almost exclu- 
 sively of this rock. On the Pedec it is seen at Parker’s ford 
 about the South Carolina line, at the Grassy Islands, the mouth 
 of Rocky river, and from the latter point, at intervals, as high as 
 the mouth of Flat-swamp creek in Davidson. It abounds in 
 Montgomery, Randolph, Moore, Chatham, Orange and Person. 
 It is the lowest rock as we descend the Neuse, occurring about 
 
 4 
 
34 
 
 OF ARGILLACEOUS SCHISTUS OR CLAT SLATE. 
 
 Micnjah Coxe’s in Wayne. There is also a small formation of 
 argillite about Nash court-house, and extending from thence in a 
 north-easterly direction towards Fishing creek, probably includ- 
 ing Dozier’s gold mine, and connected also under the sand with 
 that at Coxe’s. The western part of the westernmost county in 
 the state, (Cherokee) contains much argillite, as does the tract 
 stretching thence towards Virginia along the border of Tennessee. 
 
 Flinty Slate makes its appearance four or five miles west of 
 the University on the road leading over Mount Willing, where 
 it is porphyritic — at the Great Falls of the Yadkin, and other 
 places in the transition formation. It is much harder than ar- 
 gillite containing a larger proportion of cpiartz or silica. 
 
 Whet Slate or Nuvaculitc , is obtained of a cood quality six 
 and a half miles west of the University , and in the northern part 
 of Chatham on the west side of Haw river. In these localities 
 it evidently contains a quantity of magnesia, as is stated by Bake- 
 well to be the fact with regard to this variety of slate. 
 
 ‘'■The far-famed illustrious , Grau- JFacce,” or Gray-Waclce , 
 is described by Jamieson as “ composed of irregular or other 
 portions of quartz, feldspar, Lydian-slate, and clay-slate, cemented 
 together by means of a basis or ground of the nature of clay-slate, 
 which is often highly impregnated with silica, thus giving the 
 mass a considerable degree of hardness. The imbedded portions 
 vary in size, but seldom exceed a few inches in breadth and thick- 
 ness.” Cleaveland says they pass from nodules one foot in dia- 
 meter, to grains which are scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. 
 “ When the imbedded portions become very small, the rock as- 
 sumes a slaty structure and forms gray-wacke slate. When the 
 grains almost entirely disappear and the rock is principally com- 
 posed of clay-slate, it is called transition clay slate.” 
 
 We have many rocks amongst our transition strata, and in our 
 immediate neighborhood, which answer well to Jamieson's defi- 
 nitions ; but they arc probably more ancient than the rock bearing 
 the name of grau-waccc in Germany, and have a different aspect. 
 They bear little resemblance to the gray-wacke of the Allcgha- 
 nies. It is perhaps better to refer them to the Conglomerates — 
 a convenient class, admitting almost any rock constituted of the 
 fragments of older formations. 
 
 Gray-wacke, especially the slaty variety, is extensively dis- 
 tributed through the crust of the globe. It is found in Ger- 
 many, constituting a considerable part of the celebrated Hartz 
 mountains, in the Alps, in Scotland, in the United States about 
 Boston, and in that part of the Alleghanics which lies west of the 
 primitive. It abounds in the metallic ores. The gray-wacke 
 of the Hartz yields silver, parts of that within the limits of the 
 United States are rich in the ores of iron. 
 
 Of the Conglomerate 1 locks , the strata about Barbee’s mill, 
 composed of pebbles of quartz, hornstone, siliceous, and clay- 
 slate, and other substances cemented by finer particles or a ho- 
 
OF THE SANDSTONES. 
 
 35 
 
 mogencous paste of the same material, afford very fine examples. 
 In some of these the pebbles are large, of fine texture, and exhi- 
 bit a great variety of colour. These if cut and polished, which 
 by reason of their great hardness would be a difficult operation, 
 would be very beautiful. In others the grains are so small that 
 the mass constitutes a kind of fine sandstone. In some the peb- 
 bles make up almost the whole mass of the rock, in others they 
 appear only here and there, thinly scattered through the basis in 
 which they are imbedded. Conglomerates may lie seen about 
 Hillsborough, Pittsborough, Lawrenceville, in the western part 
 of Randolph, and at some of the principal gold mines within the 
 limits of the transition formation. 
 
 J1 Breccia differs from a conglomerate in but one circumstance. 
 The imbedded fragments, instead of being rounded by attrition, 
 are angular. Both this and the conglomerates arc siliceous, ar- 
 gillaceous, or calcareous, according to the mineral character of 
 the fragments and cement of which they are composed. Of a 
 calcareous breccia the beautiful pillars of the capitol at Wash- 
 ington may be cited as an example. 
 
 OF TIIE SANDSTONES. 
 
 21, The name of these rocks indicates what they are. In their 
 composition, structure, and colour, there is a considerable variety. 
 They consist chiefly of particles of siliceous sand, held together 
 by a cement which is generally small in quantity, and sometimes 
 apparently, by an attraction of aggregation exerted directly be- 
 tween themselves. The sandstones are evidently of very differ- 
 ent ages, but still bear such a resemblance to each other that 
 they must be distinguished by their geological position, and rela- 
 tions to other rocks, rather than their mineral characters. 
 
 1. In the northwestern part of Scotland there is a sandstone 
 which alternates with gneiss and quartz rock, and also with gray- 
 
 I wacke, and which must therefore be accounted one of the oldest 
 * members of the transition class. 
 
 2. A st ratum of sandstone, generally of a red colour, intervenes 
 1 between the transition and secondary rocks in certain parts of 
 | England and Scotland, which is referred by some geologists to 
 I the former, and by others to the latter class. It is composed of 
 
 particles of 6and, generally with a mixture of mica, and sometimes 
 of feldspar, or carbonate of lime, united by a cement of ferrugi- 
 nous clay, which is seldom abundant. It is called the old-red- 
 sandstone, but geologists seem inclined at present to regard- it os 
 a variety of gray-wacke. It underlies all the mines of fossil coal 
 that have been discovered on the island of Great Britain. They 
 are either imbedded in it, or what is more common, separated 
 from it by one or two intervening strata. 
 
 3. Another stratum of sandstone of more recent formation than 
 the last, as is proved by the circumstance of its being above the 
 
 I 
 
36 
 
 OF TnE SANDSTONES. 
 
 coal, composed of grains of sand united by a cement of clay err 
 carbonate of lime, passes through the central and western parts of 
 England, where it is known by the name of red-marle or new- 
 red-sandstonc. It embraces mines of rock salt and gypsum. 
 
 4 . Above the new-red- sandstone other sandy strata occur, 
 which are sometimes consolidated into a rock. 
 
 5. A very ancient sandstone extends from the Tennessee line 
 through a part of Ashe, Yancey and Burke counties, along the 
 Linville river and mountain to the Catawba. It alternates with 
 clay-slate, and has associated with it beds of limestone. The 
 same kind of rock is seen on the French Broad, about, and below 
 the Warm Springs. Prof. Troosl calls this last grau-wacke. 
 
 6. A formation of sandstone associated with' clay-slate enters 
 North Carolina from Virginia by the bed of Dan river, and tra- 
 versing Rockingham and part of Stokes, ends near Germanton. 
 It embraces at least one bed of anthracite coal. 
 
 7. A long bed of sandstone commencing in the northern part 
 of Massachusetts, stretches with some interruptions, through the 
 intervening states into South Carolina. It approaches within a 
 mile of the University on the east, and occupies a breadth of about 
 sixteen miles on the road leading to Raleigh. It contains beds 
 of bituminous coal in Chatham. 
 
 8. About Fayetteville and perhaps elsewhere in the low coun- 
 try, are more recent sandstones, that have sometimes solidity 
 enough to admit of their being employed in building. 
 
 9. Other beds and varieties of sandstone are found amongst 
 the Alleghany mountains and in the western stales. 
 
 What kind of relation do these diflercnt sandstones bear to 
 each other ? Is any individual amongst the strata of England of 
 the same age with a corresponding German or American rock? 
 Has it been produced by the same causes? It is not easy to 
 furnish an answer to these questions that shall be altogether 
 satisfactory. 
 
 W erner distinguished certain varieties amongst the sandstones 
 in the neighborhood of Freyburg. lie classed them by their 
 mineral characters and geological relations, and designated them 
 by the names they bore amongst the German miners ; for which 
 however others were afterwards substituted. Of these the Rothe- 
 todte-liegende or red-dead-lier, the most ancient of the sandstones 
 that fell under the observation of Werner, has been rendered 
 particularly famous by the controversies to which it has given 
 origin. 
 
 Freyburg was for a time the great geological school of Europe, 
 to which young men resorted from the British islands as well as 
 from distant parts of the continent, for the purpose of acquiring 
 a knowledge of the science. They there became acquainted with 
 the different kinds of sandstone distinguished and described by 
 Werner, and when they afterwards entered the field of observa- 
 tion, were anxious to find the same rocks, or rocks to which the 
 
OF THE SECONDARY AND TERTIARY ROCKS AND STRATA. 37 
 
 same name might be applied amongst the formations of their own 
 country. For his rothe-todte-licgende, an equivalent was sup- 
 posed to he found in an English stratum underlying the coal for- 
 mation, and called the old-red-sandstone — for his wciss-liegende 
 in the new-red-sandstone, and for the others in the higher beds. 
 
 The Americans, deriving their knowledge of Geology from 
 English rather than continental publications, have pursued a si- 
 milar course, and endeavoured to refer their sandstones to some 
 of the rocks bearing the same general name on the island of 
 Great Britain. Thus, the sandstone formation mentioned as com- 
 j mencing in Massachusetts, and extending through the intcrven- 
 j ing states into South Carolina, has been called the old-red-sand- 
 j stone. 
 
 But recently, British Geologists have placed the old-red-sand- 
 I stone amongst the gray-wackcs, and find in the upper and lower 
 members of the ??em-red-sandstone, the equivalents of the 
 weiss-liegende and rolhe-lodte-liegende of Werner. What is now 
 to be done with the sandstone of North Carolina and the other 
 Atlantic states? Is it to go along with the old-red-sandstone of 
 England amongst the gray-wackes, or to be regarded as the equi- 
 valent of the rothe-todte-licgende, or does it correspond to nei- 
 ther ? We cannot tell. If doubt and uncertainty hang for years 
 over the relations of the strata of England and Germany, separa- 
 ted by an interval of only four or five hundred miles, it may well 
 be expected that it will not be less in the case of rocks lying on 
 the opposite sides of the wide Atlantic. The sandstone is in con- 
 tact with the conglomerate rocks of the transition formation in 
 our neighbourhood, but bears no more resemblance to them than 
 granite does to mica slate. It probably is not more ancient than 
 | the old, nor more recent than the new-red-sandstone of the 
 English strata, but no satisfactory evidence has been furnished 
 that it is the same with cither. 
 
 OF THE SECONDARY AND TERTIARY ROCKS AND 
 STRATA. 
 
 i 22. These being, with few exceptions, of mechanical origin, 
 
 | require no particular description. They are : First — Limestones, 
 
 ■ which are generally constituted either in part or altogether of the 
 ; exuviae of shell-fish. Secondly — Sand ; and thirdly — Clay. 
 
 ! They are of very different degrees of induration, being some- 
 times consolidated into very hard and compact rocks, whilst in 
 other cases they are loose earthy aggregates. In these forma- 
 tions it is not the mineral character so much as the position they 
 occupy in the crust of the earth, and the organic remains they 
 embrace, that is the object of attention. If the red-sandstone of 
 our vicinity be referred to the transition class, the secondaiy and 
 tertiary strata of North Carolina (the alluvions of our rivers ex- 
 cepted) are confined to the low country. 
 
38 
 
 OF THE OVERLYING AND VOLCANIC ROCKS. 
 
 OF THE OVERLYING AND VOLCANIC ROCKS. 
 
 23. In some parts of the world this is an important class, but 
 as they occupy only a very limited space in our own country, 
 our notice of them will he brief. It is well known that volca- 
 noes pour out from their summits or their sides, a mass of melted 
 matter which Rows over the adjacent country and covers it with 
 a bed of rock, sometimes compact, but more frequently more or 
 less cellular, called (aver. Hut besides proper lava, there is a 
 considerable number of substances, some of them apparently 
 very ancient, occupying like it an unconformable and overlying 
 position upon the surface of the other strata, and so connected 
 with it hy a scries of intervening rocks, that it is not doubted 
 that they too have issued in a melted state from the interior of 
 the earth. These rocks remain to he described. 
 
 All the varieties of overlying rock are found resting on recent 
 secondary formations, than which they of course are more re- 
 cent. They arc called trap rocks, from the Swedish “ trappa,” 
 signifying a stair. This name (which is not, however, applied 
 by geologists with any great degree of precision) was given them 
 with reference to the disposition many of them exhibit to assume 
 a columnar shape and to divide into steps, forming natural terra- 
 ces. 'I'lie trap rocks often occur in veins, the intersection of 
 which proves that there has been more than one formation of 
 some or all of the varieties. They all consist of a paste, most 
 commonly of the nature of feldspar, hut sometimes of indurated 
 clay, or of a substance intermediate between these two, coloured 
 by hornblende or angite disseminated through its whole mass, or 
 containing imbedded crystals of one of these substances, or of 
 feldspar, constituting in the latter case a porphyry. 
 
 1. When tin* rock does not differ essentially in its composition 
 from feldspar, and is hut slightly discoloured by foreign ingre- 
 dients, having a gray and glassy aspect, it is called Trachyte. It 
 abounds in the southern part of France and along the whole chain 
 of the Andes. The summit of Chimborazo is formed altogether 
 of this rock. 
 
 2. When the rock has a granular structure and the feldspar is 
 flesh coloured, and contains imbedded crystals of hornblende, it 
 is proper syenite. Hut if there be a considerable admixture of 
 the ingredients of syenite communicating to the mass a dark 
 colour, it takes the name of greenstone, and if they be very in- 
 timately blended, it is called basalt. 
 
 8. A basalt containing almond shaped cavities filled with some 
 foreign substance, as limestone or chalcedony, is amygdaloid or 
 toadslone. 
 
 4. When an uniform homogeneous base has small crystals of 
 feldsdar imbedded in it in considerable numbers, it becomes por- 
 phyry, which is not however confined to the overlying rocks, 
 but sometimes alternates with clay-slate. Porphyry abounds 
 
INFLUENCE OF ROCKS UPON TIIE FERTILITY OF SOIL,. &C. 39 
 
 along the Cordillera of the Andes, and in Mexico, where it is 
 rich in the ores of the precious metals. Some varieties are ex- 
 tremely hard. Such was that which was quarried and wrought 
 by the ancient Egyptians, and which being of a reddish or pur- 
 ple colour, gave a name from Uo^v^x, the shell- fish 
 
 yielding the purple dye) to the rocks having this constitution. 
 
 We have some varieties of flinty slate in our transition forma- 
 tion that are porphyritic, but the only rocks in North Carolina 
 that have any claim to belong to the class of which wc are now 
 treating, arc the greenstone dykes that traverse the old-red-sand- 
 stone and the natural walls in Rowan. Connected with the old- 
 red-sandstone formation there are in the northern states immense 
 masses, rising sometimes into considerable mountains, of basaltic 
 greenstone, which are supposed by geologists to be of volcanic 
 origin, though no one pretends to tell how they gained the position 
 they now occupy. The same substance presents itself in the sand- 
 stone of North Carolina, not swelling into such large masses, but 
 forming dykes of a few yards in breadth or hills of moderate ele- 
 vation. 
 
 The natural walls in Rowan have been several times described. 
 A French naturalist, well known in the scientific world by an 
 able work on the insects of Africa, and another on a family of 
 cryptogamous plants, (M. Palisot dc Bcauvois) passing from the 
 country of the Creeks to Pennsylvania, heard at Salisbury of the 
 natural wall, and wishing to know more of so singular an object, vi- 
 sited it and carried spccimensof it to Paris. These were put into the 
 hands of the ablest French mineralogists, M. M. Broignart, Bro- 
 chant, and Gilet Laumont, who all decided that these stones bad 
 at least all the characters of basalt, though they hesitated about 
 pronouncing them to be that substance by reason of their being 
 found in the heart of a primitive country. Such walls or dj'kes 
 are met with, though not in the same geological connexion, in 
 other parts of the world. There is one that traverses the coal 
 fields in the north of England for many miles, lint McCulloch 
 I remarks respecting one variety of granite that it is undistinguish- 
 I able from basalt, though it is connected with and passes into gra- 
 nite of the most common character. \N hether the natural walls of 
 Rowan are basaltic dykes or contemporaneous granite veins, there 
 is perhaps room for doubt. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF TIIE ROCKS UPON TIIE FERTILITY 
 OF TIIE SOILS PRODUCED BY THEM. 
 
 94. It is in connexion with the art and science of agriculture 
 that the strata of the earth exhibit their most interesting relations. 
 Man depends for his existence upon the power possessed by vege- 
 tables of attracting the elements (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and 
 nitrogen) of which they are constituted, combining them so as to 
 form vegetable matter, and incorporating them with their own sub' 
 
40 INFLUENCE OF ROCKS UPON THE FERTILITY OF SOIL, &.C. 
 
 stance. If they were to lose this power, or the air and earth, the 
 capacity of furnishing these elements, all living things would die ; 
 first the brute creation , but our own race would not evade the gene- 
 ral ruin. The inhabitants of the ocean as well as of the land, the 
 lower as well as the higher orders of living beings are nourished 
 either directly or indirectly by vegetable matter. That shell fish 
 do not thrive upon a bed of pure siliceous sand, is known to ac- 
 curate observers, who frccpient the borders of the sea, nor would 
 they be able to exist at all but for the supply of vegetable or 
 animal matter that is brought to them dissolved or suspended in 
 the water of the ocean that flows over them. 
 
 A very few vegetables are proper air plants, that is, require 
 only some solid body to which to apply themselves, or a fibrous 
 substance, such as moss, cotton, or amianthus, amongst which to 
 insinuate their roots, and the)’ will thrive and grow without be- 
 ing brought into contact with either earth or water. The TiJland- 
 sia Usneoides or long moss of the Low-Country, is an example. 
 But in general, we know that trees and plants require the presence 
 of soil into which to strike their roots, as also that to those which 
 are most valuable by reason of their affording food or clothing, or 
 otherwise subserving the convenience or necessity of man or other 
 animals, a soil of a peculiar kind is nccesary, or they fail of at- 
 taining the highest perfection of size and quality of which they 
 are capable. 
 
 Under the action of the elements the rocky strata of the globe 
 are undergoing disintegration and decay. Some merely crumble 
 down into a coarse gravel, whilst others are resolved at once into 
 an impalpable powder. It is by the disintegration of the rocks 
 that arable land has been produced in all quarters of the world. 
 Is there any connexion between the structure and composition of 
 the rocks and the fertility of the soils they form ? There is a 
 very evident connexion of this kind. IV hy the relations should 
 be such as are observed in nature we are unable to tell ; why for 
 instance the valley of Egypt should be more productive than the 
 neighbouring sands of Lybia, or the low-ground alluvions of our 
 large rivers, than the pine barrens by which they are skirted on 
 either hand. We can only generalize those facts which expe- 
 rience and observation have well ascertained. 
 
 The fertility of different soils so far as it depends upon their 
 own constitution and the character of lire rocks from which they 
 have been formed, is determined by four principal circumstances. 
 
 1. Their composition ; the kind of earth of which the rocks 
 are made up. 
 
 2. Their susceptibility of disintegration by the action of the 
 elements. 
 
 3. The nature of their upper surface, whether level, or rugged, 
 and broken. 
 
 4. The amount of decayed vegetable or animal matter the soil 
 in question may contain. 
 
INFLUENCE OF BOCKS UPON THE FERTILITY OF SOIL, &C. 41 
 
 i 
 
 Of these four concurrent causes of productiveness or sterility, 
 the last has little connexion with the science of Geology. The 
 influence of the others will be stated in accordance with what has 
 been observed in other countries, and is laid down in the hooks ; 
 after this we may enquire how far these representations agree 
 with the facts that may be observed in regard to the soil of 
 North Carolina. 
 
 25. Composition. The simple minerals constituting the crust 
 of the globe are composed almost exclusively of four kinds of 
 earth ; silica, alumina, lime and magnesia, combined with each 
 other in different proportions. It is therefore of these four earths 
 that soils are fprmed in every part of the world. They contain 
 besides, a little iron, and a minute quantity of the rarer earths and 
 metallic oxides, but these are not abundant enough to affect in 
 any considerable degree their fertility. 
 
 So far is magnesia from increasing the fertility of the soil, that 
 it may be doubted whether its influence is not positively injurious 
 to all the forms of vegetable life. Thus the occurrence of soap- 
 stone rocks, which owe their peculiar character to the presence of 
 this earth, is always marked by sterility and barrenness in their 
 neighbourhood. Of the other earths, no one will by itself form 
 a good soil. Vegetables will not grow in a pure siliceous sand, 
 whether coarse or fine. Some require a larger admixture of alu- 
 mina than others. The long leaved pine (pinus australis of JMi- 
 chamc)-will thrivo-wiKM^e corn will not grow ; but CV.Ctl this be- 
 comes dwarfish, if the sand predominate so as nearly to exclude 
 the clay. If on the other hand the alumina pass a certain limit, 
 a clay so close and dense is formed, and so liable to change with 
 every change of the weather, acquiring almost the hardness of a 
 baked brick in a dry season, and becoming so overcharged with 
 moisture in a wet one, that vegetables will not thrive in it. The 
 chalk formation in England and France furnishes evidence that 
 limestone does not by itself produce a good soil. 
 
 ‘ It is by a pi oper mixture of these earths and of a certain quan- 
 tity of decayed vegetable matter, all in a state of minute division, 
 that a soil of the highest possible degree of fertility is created. 
 Silica and alumina combined in proper proportions, will of them- 
 selves form good land, but the addition of a little lime increases 
 greatly its productiveness. Hence arises the fertility of some 
 of the western states. The counties about Lexington in Kentucky, 
 arc not surpassed in this respect (some river bottoms excepted) 
 by any part of the world, nor resting as they do upon a founda- 
 tion of limestone, is there reason to apprehend that they will be 
 exhausted by constant tillage. The influence of a quantity of lime 
 upon the productiveness of a soil, is well exhibited in two small 
 tracts, in the low-country of North Carolina ; the Rich-lands of 
 Onslow, and that bearing the name of Rocky-point, on the north- 
 east branch of the Cape Fear, in New Hanover. A bed of shell 
 limestone, which underlies this part of the state, here rises to the 
 
42 INFLUENCE OF ROCKS UPON THE FERTILITY OF SOIL, &.C. 
 
 surface and aiding by its decomposition in the formation of the 
 soil, communicates to it a very high degree of fertility. 
 
 2. Susceptibility of Disintegration and Surface . — A wide 
 difference in their susceptibility of disintegration, is observed 
 amongst rocks hearing the same name. Some varieties of granite 
 lose their consistency and arc converted to a great depth into a 
 mass of coarse gravel, whilst others undergo hut inconsiderable 
 changes, though exposed to the action of the weather for ages. 
 This rock is supposed to be attacked by destroying agents, through 
 the medium of the potassa entering into the composition of its 
 feldspar. It is not always the softest rock that is the most liable 
 to decay. Soapstone, though so soft as to be easily cut with a 
 knife, is amongst the most indestructible of the rocks. When a 
 rock formation, by reason either of its composition or of the man- 
 ner in which its integrant particles are united, is not affected by 
 those causes which change the aspect and condition of other por- 
 tions of the earth’s crust, it is evident that it may fail for many 
 ages of covering itself with such a coating of soil as is adequate to 
 the demands of agriculture; as also that if its surface be mountain- 
 ous and broken, the soil may be carried away by the rain as 
 rapidly as it is formed. The susceptibility of disintegration, and 
 surface, of the strata have therefore an influence, but incomparably 
 less in most cases than their composition, upon the fertility of the 
 soils they form. 
 
 1. The primitive rocks nrc said to produce by their decompo- 
 sition a soil ot very moderate fertility. Granite is also stated to 
 be inferior in regard to the soil it forms to gneiss, and gneiss to 
 mica slate. In many cases all three of the circumstances upon 
 which the formation of a good soil depends, are wanting in this 
 class. Silica often predominates in their composition, so that 
 there is not a due proportion of alumina; it is seldom that they 
 contain any lime, their disintegration proceeds slowly, and occupj T - 
 ing as they do the crests of mountains, they are liable to be washed 
 away as soon as the attraction of cohesion that united their par- 
 ticles, is destroyed. They abound in pure springs of excellent 
 water, and with few exceptions are occupied by a vigorous and 
 healthy though sparse population. 
 
 A large part of the good land in North Carolina has been 
 produced by the decomposition of primitive rocks. The most 
 ancient primitive formation, extending along the bases of the 
 western mountains and to a considerable distance east of them, has 
 good land on the banks of the creeks and rivers, but the largest 
 bodies of soil susceptible of cultivation, have proceeded from a for- 
 mation of recent primitive rocks, stretching through the middle 
 counties, and the tracts where hornblende predominates in their 
 composition, as in Cabarrus and Mecklenberg, are in general supe- 
 rior to the rest. 
 
 2. The transition rocks being composed of particles that are 
 not associated in the close and intimate union produced by cheml- 
 
or METALLIC VEINS AND BEDS OP VALUABLE MINERALS. 43 
 
 cal attraction, are said to be more susceptible of disintegration 
 than the primitive. They also more frequently contain lime. 
 Where this earth is present, the fertility of the soil created, will 
 depend upon the relative proportion of the other ingredients of 
 the rock. Thus a gray-wacke containing lime, and in which the 
 argillaceous cement is abundant, will form good land. Hut where, 
 as in the case of the sandstone lying east of us, the rock is an ag- 
 gregate of particles of silica, held together by a cement without 
 lime and small in quantity, the soil arising from its decomposi- 
 tion, will he light and unproductive. Clay-slate is said to form 
 ; a tough strong soil, which retains whatever it receives ; hut in 
 i North Carolina it is only where a rock considerably removed from 
 1 pure argillite is found, that there is good land within the limits of 
 j the transition formation. 
 
 3. The secondary and tertiary strata, having only a moderate 
 degree of consolidation, and a position very often approaching to 
 the horizontal, the character of the soils proceeding from them, 
 will depend almost exclusively upon their composition. The fer- 
 tility of the alluvions of rivers, is to he ascribed in a considerable 
 degree to the fact of their being highly charged with decayed 
 animal and vegetable matter, but the relative proportion and fine- 
 ness of their component earths, are to be regarded as important 
 concurrent causes. 
 
 OF METALLIC VEINS AND LEDS C)F VALUABLE 
 MINERALS. 
 
 2 G. There is another subject connected with the rock forma- 
 tions of the earih, which awakens in the minds of many persons, 
 even a livelier interest than the one to which we have just been 
 attending. It is that of metallic veins and mineral beds embrac- 
 ing valuable ores and other fossils, in relation to which a number 
 of facts of a miscellaneous character, and not admitting of much 
 j classification or reference to general principles, are to be slated. 
 
 \ The mineral substances that arc sought after with so much 
 i eagerness, by reason cither of their important applications in the 
 ; arts or the exchangeable value in commerce which immemorial 
 S usage has conferred upon them, occur in four different varieties 
 | of circumstance and situation, 
 j U In veins traversing other rocks. 
 
 ! 2. In beds between two contiguous strata. 
 
 3. Disseminated through a whole rocky mass. 
 
 4. In situations into which they have been transported from 
 their original repositories by running water. 
 
 The valuable metals, whether native or combined with a 
 mineralizer, are generally obtained from veins or from such 
 situations that there is reason to believe they were originally 
 ; derived from them. Manganese and iron frequently, and some 
 i of the other metals rarely, occur in beds. The whole mass of a 
 
44 OF METALLIC VEINS AND BEDS 07 VALUABLE MINERALS. 
 
 rock, containing a metallic ore thickly disseminated through it, 
 is sometimes raised and worked under the name of ore. The 
 gneiss and mica slate rocks, enveloping crystals of magnetic oxide 
 of iron, of the western counties of North Carolina, are an example. 
 We shall treat first, and at greatest length, of veins. 
 
 It appears that the strata constituting the crust of the globe, 
 have been fractured since their consolidation, the sides of the 
 fissure separated from each other, and the vacant space filled 
 with a foreign substance, sometimes enveloping a quantity of me- 
 tallic ore, and in that case called a vein. The whole mass of the 
 vein must have been cither, poured into the fissure from above, 
 forced into it from below, or transferred into the position in which 
 it is found by agents and methods of which we have no accurate 
 knowledge. Circumstances to be noticed hereafter, prove that in 
 most cases at least, veins cannot be coeval with the rocks they 
 traverse. When the substance occupying the fissure is stone or 
 clay, it is called a dyke, of which the natural walls of Rowan are 
 perhaps examples. Werner defined a vein to be '• the mineral 
 contents of a vertical or inclined Jissure , nearly straight, and 
 of indefinite length and depth.” 
 
 The thickness of veins varies from the fraction of an inch to 
 mail)' feet. It is not uniform throughout the whole extent of the 
 same vein, but increases or diminishes, both laterally, and as the 
 vein descends into the earth. The great vein of silver ore at 
 Guanaxuato, in Mexico, which has yielded a larger amount of 
 that metal than any other that has been explored by man, is twen- 
 ty-two feet across at the surface, and much more at a considerable 
 depth. There is no instance on record, where a vein has been 
 wrought to the bottom and exhausted, though the quantity of ore 
 has sometimes become so small as to cause it to be abandoned. 
 It is probable that in many cases of this kind, the mine would 
 become richer at a greater depth, as the productiveness of every 
 vein is continually varying. Veins cut through the strata and 
 descend into the earth, at an angle with the plane of the horizon, 
 which is different in different mines, but always considerable. It 
 is sometimes a right angle. If at any time they appear to occupy 
 a bed between contiguous strata, they may commonly be traced to 
 a vein nearly or quite perpendicular to those strata, with which 
 they arc connected, and of which they appear to be branches. 
 Amongst the workmen, the perpendicular, or such as descend at a 
 large angle are called rake veins, and the horizontal, or such as 
 follow the direction of the strata, flat veins. In England the 
 large and productive veins most commonly run east and west, 
 and it has been thought that there is a tendency to the same direc- 
 tion in other parts of the world. The principal vein of the most 
 valuable of the North Carolina gold mines, (Capps’), docs not vay 
 much from t lie meridian, and descends into the earth at an angle 
 of about seventy-five degrees. Such at least, were the indica- 
 tions at the surface, and when it was first opened. 
 
OF METALIC VEINS. 
 
 45 
 
 Veins are often separated from the rock they intersect, by a 
 thin wall or lining of clay or some other mineral. Sometimes 
 the ore extends in a compact mass from one side of the fissure to 
 the other, but more commonly it is imbedded in a matrix, gangue, 
 or vein-stone, or forms layers alternating with it, suggesting the idea 
 of their having been deposited in succession upon the sides of the 
 fissure, until the cavity was at length filled. The gangue is occa- 
 ; sionally of the same nature with the lining of the vein just mcn- 
 I tioned ; it is always different from the rock it traverses. Quartz, 
 
 \ carbonate, and fluatc, of lime, and sulphate of baryta, arc the most 
 ; common substances. Two or more of these, or varieties of the 
 | same substance of different colour or texture, are found associated 
 1 in the same vein, and applied in successive layers, some of which 
 contain ore, whilst others are barren. In the North Carolina 
 gold mines, the gangue is cellular quartz. Veins undergo many 
 changes as thev descend, and this relates not only to their pro- 
 ductiveness, but sometimes also to the kind of ore they yield. 
 There are veins in Cornwall, which yield tin at the surface and 
 afterwards prove rich in copper. 
 
 When two veins, or a vein and a dyke cross each other, as not 
 unfrequently happens, the working of the vein brings to light the 
 appearances attendant on such an intersection. On cutting through 
 the dyke, the continuation of the vein is not found in the line of 
 its former direction, but elevated considerably above or depressed 
 below, or shifted to the right hand or the left, of its former course. 
 These shiftings of the strata are called by the workmen faults, and 
 are commonly regarded as proving that when the crust of the 
 earth was ruptured, and the sides of the fracture separated, it was 
 done with great violence so as to derange and displace the strata 
 to a great extent. Sometimes, veins cross each other without 
 any change in the direction or appearance of either, or of the 
 rocky strata in which they arc both included. 
 
 27. Werner supposed that all veins and dykes were produced 
 by the shrinking of the materials of which the mountains are 
 composed, and the subsequent introduction of the substances con- 
 stituting the vein, in a state of solution, from above. That fissures 
 in the crust of the earth have sometimes been so filled, is probable 
 1 from the fact that they contain substances that have apparently 
 \ been washed in from the surface, such as rounded stones and un- 
 1 decayed vegetable matter, but that the materials of metallic veins 
 ] have not been thus poured in, in a state of solution, from above, 
 (is rendered certain by all we know respecting the properties of 
 those substances, and their distribution through the crust of the 
 earth. There is no form of matter known to us that would act as 
 the common solvent of all the contents of many veins — of the 
 quartz and the sulphurets of copper, lead, and zinc, for example, 
 of the lead mines at Southampton, in Massachusetts, even though 
 we suppose it capable of dissolving one of them. The greater 
 :part of the metallic ores occur onlyin veins, whereas, had they 
 
46 
 
 OF METALLIC VEINS. 
 
 been spread out in a liquid state over the surface of the earth, and 
 thus placed in a condition to enter and occupy the fissurss in 
 which they now appear, large collections of them would have 
 been formed by reason of their high specific gravity, in those 
 basin-shaped cavities which occur frequently in every country, and 
 in which nevertheless we never find them. Indeed, nothing can 
 be more crude and preposterous than the theory of Werner, in 
 regard to the formation of veins. 
 
 The theory of Hutton, which represents them as produced by 
 the consolidation of the material of which they are composed, 
 forced in a state of fusion into fissures, previously existing in the 
 strata, by a force operating from below, though appearing at first 
 less encumbered with difficulties, has but little the advantage of its 
 rival. This violent and tumultuous entrance of the materials of 
 the vein, is totally inconsistent with that perfection of crystalliza- 
 tion which is often witnessed in the different substances associated 
 in its composition. In the Southampton mine, just referred 1o, 
 the sulphuret of lead instead of being scattered in shapeless masses, 
 through the whole extent of the gangue, is collected into large and 
 well defined crystals, perfectly distinct from the quartz in 
 which they are imbedded. That where a vein passes through 
 two or more strata of different composition and character, its 
 width and productiveness vary along with the rock in which itlies, 
 is another fact that is calculated to render the soundness of this 
 theory doubtful, even if it should not be regarded as altogether 
 fatal to it. Of the examples that have been noticed and recorded 
 of this kind of dependence, two only will be cited. 
 
 1. In the north of England there is a body of stratified rocks 
 that is rich in the ores of lead. It is divided into fifty-five distinct 
 beds, exhibiting three principal varieties of composition and struc- 
 ture Nine of these beds are limestone, eighteen siliceous sand- 
 stone, and the rest shale, with thin beds of imperfect coal. The 
 different kinds alternate with each other. The veins traverse 
 them all, and have been worked more or less in all of them, but 
 the ore is found abundantly only in particular beds. When the 
 veins pass through the shales, they yield very little, if any, .ore; 
 in the sandstone they are more productive — are richer still in 
 the limestone, but it is a single bed called the great limestone , 
 that has yielded four-fifths of all the metal drawn from the veins 
 of this distict. 
 
 2. A vein of quartz traversing argillite in the north-western 
 part of Montgomery count}' in North Carolina, was found to be 
 rich in gold. The owner (Barringer) with the assistance of his 
 family, obtained from it six pounds of gold, worth about sixteen 
 hundred dollars in the day after it was discovered. But the ar- 
 gillite here forms only a superficial covering on the top of another 
 rock. As soon as the vein passes from this into the subjacent 
 stratum, magnesian limestone takes the place of the quartz, and 
 it ceases to be auriferous. Other examples might be cited especi- 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF METALLIC VEINS AND MINERAL BEDS, &.C. 47 
 
 ally from the tin and copper mines of Cornwall, of the 
 dependence of veins in regard to their productiveness, and the 
 kind of ore they yield, upon the character of the including rock. 
 
 The formation of veins must evidently have been less sudden, 
 tumultuous, and mechanical than it has been represented. Neither 
 simple solution nor simple fusion, with subsequent precipitation 
 or crystallization, will account for tbe appearances. Nor is sub- 
 limation from an interior source of heat, which has also been 
 . proposed as the cause lay which they may have heen produced, 
 less liable to objection. None of tbese hypotheses account for the 
 j influence of the including rock, upon the richness and other char- 
 acters of the vein by which it is traversed. 
 
 When we look through nature for an agent, competent to the 
 production of the effects we are considering, that whose modes of 
 operation and the laws by which they are regulated, arc the ob- 
 jects of the science of Galvanism, presents itself as having the 
 best claim to a fulfilment of the required conditions. It is now 
 but fifty years since its existence was first suspected, and our 
 knowledge of its powers is still limited. It has been ascertained, 
 however, that matter is transferred by it from one point of space 
 to another, without any clear indications at the time, of the changes 
 that are going on, and that subjected to its influence, one chemi- 
 cal element is made to traverse another for which it has a strong 
 affinity, without any combination. It is also excited and brought 
 into action by the application to each other, of surfaces of different 
 nature and constitution, such as the strata that constitute the crust 
 of the earth are— and according as these differed from each other 
 in composition or magnitude, it was to be expected that the ac- 
 cumulations would be directeil on some points in preference to 
 others. If galvanic electricity lie the agent by which veins have 
 been formed, we may refer to it all the different kinds, whether 
 earthy, metalliferous, contemporaneous, or of date subsequent to 
 that of the rocks in which they lie. 
 
 1 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF METALLIC VEINS AND MINERAL 
 BEDS THROUGH THE STRATA. 
 
 28. Is the distribution of metallic veins and of valuable minerals 
 of every kind through the strata of the globe, regulated by any 
 general laws, or is every kind of ore or other fossil found indis- 
 criminately in every formation from the oldest to the most re- 
 cent? Some statements in relation to this subject were intro- 
 duced into our account of the rocks, which it- may be useful to 
 recapitulate in connection with a few additional remarks in this 
 place. 
 
 1. Metallic veins are confined to the primitive, transition, and 
 the lowest, or most ancient of the secondary rocks. The cause, 
 whatever it was, which operated in their production, had ceased 
 
48 distribution or metallic veins and mineral beds, &c. 
 
 to act, before the newer secondary strata had begun to be deposited. 
 It would, therefore, be great folly to look for them in the low- 
 country of North Carolina. It is improbable that we shall 
 discover in that part of the state the ore of any metal but iron, or 
 that it contains more than two or three species of iron ore. 
 
 2. Salt, coal, and gypsum, have never yet been found, except in 
 the transition, secondary, and tertiary strata. The valuable mines 
 of these substances, and especially of coal, are in the newer tran- 
 sition and ancient secondary. They do not, therefore, exist in 
 our western counties. 
 
 3. A difference obtains amongst the different strata, embracing 
 metallic veins, in regard both to the kind of metal they yield, 
 and the quantity , when the ores of the same metal arc common 
 to two or more species of roclc, as will appear from the following 
 more particular statements. 
 
 4. A greater variety of metallic ores is found in granite than 
 in any other rock: a circumstance to be attributed in part to the 
 fact that no other substance occupies so large a space on the sur- 
 face of the globe, but the quantity of metal derived from veins 
 traversing granite, is generally small. The most important mines 
 wrought in it are those of tin and iron. The more valuable of the 
 gold mines of North Carolina are in a granitic country, though 
 the veins do not appear to traverse this rock but another, em- 
 bedded in it, or reposing upon it. 
 
 5. Gneiss abounds in ores, which arc in veins and beds. Mines 
 of tin, lead, copper, zinc, silver, and cobalt, are wrought in it. — 
 Some of the iron mines of North Carolina yielding the best kind 
 of ore are in gneiss. 
 
 6. Mica State conlains nearly the same metals that are found 
 in gneiss, and in about the same abundance. 
 
 7. Quartz Hock is not known to contain any valuable ores of 
 any kind. 
 
 S. Serpentine is distinguished for the presence of magnetic 
 iron ore, often occuring in octahedral crystals. It yields also the 
 chromate of iron. 
 
 9. Pri milive Limestone embraces veins and beds of iron, lead, 
 and zinc. 
 
 10. Clay Slate , (including under this single denomination 
 porphyry and grcy-wacke), is rich in the metals, containing beds 
 and veins of most of the more valuable kinds. It abounds 
 especially in the ores of copper, lead, and silver. 
 
 11. Tin, bismuth, chromium, molybdenum, titanium, cerium, 
 columbium, and uranium, (with the exception of the first three, rare 
 and worthless substances), belong to the older primitive rocks, 
 only very feeble traces of them being found amongst the newer 
 formations. 
 
 12. Arsenic, cobalt, nickel, silver, and copper, are found in the 
 ancient primitive formations, but are not confined to them, some 
 of them being abundant in rocks of later date. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF METALLIC VEINS AND MINERAL BEDS, &.C. 49 
 
 13. Gold, tellurium, antimony, and manganese, extend from 
 the newer primitive to the older secondary. 
 
 14. Lead, zinc, cadmium, and mercury, though sometimes 
 found (especially lead) in the older rocks, appear to he the most 
 recent of the metals, occurring in the greatest quantity in the later 
 transition formations. 
 
 15. Iron is found in every rock, from the oldest gneiss or 
 granite to the most recent alluvial deposit. 
 
 16. A number of different metals are frequently associated, or 
 occur in considerable quantities at moderate distances, within the 
 
 ■ limits of the same mining district. The tin, copper, lead, gold, 
 | silver, iron, bismuth, zinc, antimony, cobalt, arsenic, tungsten, 
 j titanium, nickel, manganese, and molybdenum (10), of Corn- 
 ! wall — the silver, iron, arsenic, copper, lead, zinc, gold, tin, 
 quicksilver, antimony, and manganese, (11), of the great silver 
 mine at Guanaxuato, in Mexico — the gold, silver, copper, lead, 
 arsenic, and iron, of the mining region of North Carolina, are 
 examples. 
 
 17. A rock of a given character will be eminently metalliferous 
 in one country, and in another where its apparent age, structure, 
 composition, and other characters are much the same, it will be 
 almost without the trace of a metal. The gneiss of Saxony is 
 rich, that of Scotland is poor. This diversity we are unable to 
 account for. From the general aspect of a country, therefore, 
 we can form only some very loose conjectures respecting its rocks, 
 whether they will be metalliferous or not. 
 
 29. The foregoing statements comprise the principal facts 
 that have been ascertained, respecting mineral veins and beds in 
 general. They relate especially, to the primitive, transition, and 
 older secondary rocks, to which, as has been remarked, metallic 
 veins are confined. Three substances of great importance and 
 value, either in the domestic economy of mankind or in various 
 arts and manufactures, are found in greatest abundance amongst 
 | the secondary strata, the geological position of which, and the 
 I circumstances under which they occur, will be stated somewhat 
 i at length, both because the subject is interesting in itself, and 
 • because the facts to be noticed afford some insight into the 
 i ancient condition of the earth, and enable us to comprehend the 
 j nature of the revolutions to which it has been subjected. The 
 (substances referred to, are fossil salt, gypsum, and coal, with 
 which last, iron ore is often associated. 
 
 For the study of the secondary strata, no country whose geo- 
 logy has been hitherto investigated, offers as many advantages as 
 England. Nearly the whole of the south-eastern and midland 
 counties are underlain or constituted of formations belonging to 
 this period, disposed in successive beds one over the other in a 
 (conformable position and dipping very gently towards the south- 
 east. The space they occupy on the earth’s surface, is not so 
 I 5* 
 
50 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL BEDS. 
 
 large as to make it difficult to trace and mark the boundaries of 
 each stratum, and compare its remote parts, with reference, either 
 to their composition or to their imbedded organic remains. The 
 extent, thickness, and composition of these strata have been in- 
 vestigated by able geologists. The names they bear, are in part, 
 such as having been first applied to them by miners or the inhabi- 
 tants of the districts through which they pass, have since been 
 adopted by the men of science devoted to these studies. 
 
 Beginning with the uppermost and omitting some sub-divisions, 
 there are the crag, London-clay, plastic-clay and sand, upper- 
 chalk, lower-chalk, chalk-marl, green-sand, weald-clay, iron- 
 sand, Portland limestone, Kimmeridge-clay, coral rag, calcareous 
 grit, Oxford or clunch-clay, cornbrash and forest marble, great 
 oolite, inferior oolite, lias, new-red-sandstone, magnesian lime- 
 stone, the coal measures, millstone grit and shale, carbonife- 
 rous or mountain limestone, old-red-sandstone. 
 
 This long catalogue of uncouth names, shows at least, the 
 minute accuracy with which the whole subject has been studied, 
 and the extent to which the division of the strata has been car- 
 ried. If we pass over to the continent of Europe, and compare 
 the geological structure of France, the Netherlands, and Ger- 
 many, with that of England, we find a general correspondence, 
 but witli important points of difference. Some formations are 
 persistent, retaining the same characters over large tracts ; others 
 are widely distributed, but liable to vary. What is a body of 
 loose sand, or a soft and friable sandstone in England, (green- 
 sand) in the Alps of Savoy, becomes a hard, blackish, compact 
 limestone, proved to belong to the same epoch with the other, 
 only by the circumstance of their containing imbedded in them 
 the same organic remains. Some strata are confined within nar- 
 row limits, to a single county, province, or department; or to a 
 part of it, and in their place, there come in amongst those of the 
 adjacent regions, one, two, three, or more equivalent formations 
 as they are called, of which, their geological position shews that 
 they arc of nearly the same age, but which bear little resemblance 
 to each other in an)' particular. The characters of these deposits 
 arc such, as to admit of their being distributed into a few families 
 or groups, according to the following plan, where the corres- 
 ponding strata of England, France, and Germany are ranged 
 opposite to each other in parallel columns. 
 
 Tertiary 
 
 system. 
 
 C Crnor, 
 
 London Tiny, 
 
 C Plastic Clay & Sand. 
 
 Strata of the Paris Strata of the Ba- 
 Basin. sin of Vienna. 
 
 C retaeeous 
 system. 
 
 ("Chalk, 
 
 Chalk Marl, 
 < Green Sand, 
 j Weald Clay, 
 Llron Sand. 
 
 Craie, 
 
 Oraie Tufan, Kreide, 
 
 Glaueonie Crayeuse, Planerkalk. 
 Glauconie Sableuse. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL BEDS, &C. 
 
 51 
 
 Oolitic 
 
 system. 
 
 "Portland Limestone, 
 
 Kimmeridge Clay, 
 
 Coral Hag, 
 
 Oxford Clay, 
 
 J Cornbrasli, Calcairc de Jura. Jurakalk. 
 
 Forest Marble, 
 
 Great Oolite, 
 
 Fuller’s earth beds, 
 
 ^.Inferior Oolite. 
 
 Lias. 
 
 ("Upper Lias shale, 
 j Lias Marlslonc, 
 j Lower Lias clay and 
 ) shale, 
 
 CLias Hock. 
 
 Calcaire- 
 a Gryphites, 
 Gres. 
 
 Quadersandstein, 
 
 Keeper. 
 
 ("New-red Sandstone, Marnes Triscos, Mnsclielkalk, 
 Saliferous J Magnesian Limestone, Gres lligarre, Hunter Sandstein, 
 
 system. ) Exeter Hed Conglo- Gres des Vosges, Hogenstein, 
 
 L merate. Calcaire Penmen. Zechstein, 
 
 Rothc-todtc-licgcndc. 
 
 ("The Coal Measures, Terrain Hoiiiller, 
 
 Carboniferous ) Carboniferous or Calcaire Carbonifcre, 
 system. ] Mountain Limestone, Vieux Gres rouge ou 
 COld Hed Sandstone. Psammite rougeatre. 
 
 30. In England, one of these beds, and but one, embraces 
 masses of fossil salt and gypsum. They are all deposits from 
 water. There has, therefore, been a time, and it has occurred 
 but once, when the waters standing over certain parts of the 
 island of Great Britian were so strongly impregnated with salt, 
 that enough to supply the kingdom with that substance for a very 
 long period, was collected into a single stratum called the new or 
 variegated sandstone. Brine springs rise out of it, and in their 
 neighborhood, plants, whose natural habitat is the sea-shore, 
 are found many miles in the interior. 
 
 These springs were known as early as when the Romans had 
 ] possession of the island, and the water was evaporated to obtain 
 | salt, in which the soldiers received a part of their pay. The 
 t salt made from them is purer than that procured from the water 
 j of the ocean, containing none of the salts of magnesia, along with 
 | the chloride of sodium. The evaporation of the brine was an 
 | important and lucrative business in the time of Elizabeth. The 
 ' strata from which they issue, were at length bored into, at North- 
 wich, in Cheshire, in the hope of finding coal, and the enter- 
 prise resulted in the discovery of a bed of salt, some of which is 
 very nearly pure. Below this, and separated from it by a layer 
 of clay, another was afterwards found, into which the principal 
 ; workings have been carried. No very accurate knowledge of 
 i the magnitude of these saline deposits has been obtained, but ac- 
 cording to the best authorities, they may extend over an area of 
 
52 
 
 OF FOSSIL SALT AND GYPSUM. 
 
 about one-square mile, and be about three hundred feet in thick- 
 ness, but they thin of] at the edges, having the form, not of beds, 
 but of lenticular masses. The annual produce of this mine is about 
 300,000 tons; the larger part of which is carried down the 
 river Weaver, and shipped from Liverpool. Upwards of three 
 millions of bushels were sent from England to the United States, 
 in the year 1831, but the whole of this was not from North- 
 wich. There are other beds or masses in the same county, 
 where salt is manufactured by the evaporation of the brine. The 
 new'-red-sandstone also embraces beds of gypsum, large quanti- 
 ties of which are raised for the supply of various arts and manu- 
 factures in different parts of the formation. 
 
 31. The same minerals (salt and gypsum) are found associated 
 in other countries and regions of the globe, imbedded in a rock 
 of similar composition and structure, and as was once supposed 
 by geologists, of the same age with the new-red-sandstone of 
 the English strata. Our limits will admit only of a notice of the 
 more remarkable beds of fossil salt on the eastern continent, and 
 of the brine springs of our own country. 
 
 1. At Cardona, in the south-eastern part of Spain, is a small 
 mountain composed of alternating layers of gypsum and salt. 
 The area of its base is a little more than a square mile, and its 
 height between three hundred and three hundred and fifty feet. 
 It was at one time stated to be a primitive, then a transition for- 
 mation, next referred to the new-red-sandstone, and is now said 
 by Lyell, to be contemporaneous with the chalk. 
 
 2. Salt springs abound in the department of Meurthe, in the 
 eastern part of France. In the year 1S19, the strata from which 
 they rise, were bored into, as in England, with the view of find- 
 ing coal. Coal was not found, but instead it, beds of salt and 
 gypsum, extending through an area of two hundred and seventy 
 square miles. Four different beds of salt have been met w T ith, 
 the third of which is forty-five feet in thickness. The depth to 
 which the fourth descends has not been ascertained. Corres- 
 ponding beds have been proved by boring on the opposite side 
 of the Rhine, in Baden and Wirtemburg, but nothing is known 
 respecting their number, extent, and thickness; the saturated 
 brine being here employed, instead of the solid material of the 
 beds in procuring salt. All these are in formations which are 
 the equivalents of the new-red-sandstone, and which are also 
 known to furnish gypsum and salt springs in France and Spain, 
 as well as in other parts of Europe. 
 
 3. The salt mines of Wieliczka, in Poland, have been long 
 celebrated. They were discovered in 1251 and though they 
 have now been wrought for nearly six hundred years, there are 
 no indications that they are likely to be exhausted. The country 
 about Wieliczka, like the rest of Poland, is covered by tertiary de- 
 posits, beneath which, the saliferous strata of that country, as 
 
OF FOSSIL SALT AND GYPSUM. 
 
 53 
 
 well as others along the bases of the Carpathian mountains, were 
 supposed to lie, and to correspond in age to those of France and 
 England, but Bou6 represents them as belonging to the tertiary 
 period. 
 
 4. “When it is known,” says Dr. Kidd, in his Geological 
 Essays, “that rock salt is used as a building stone, at Ormus, 
 “and that the sand of the great desert of Persia, is of a brick-red 
 “colour, and that salt abounds throughout that desert, there can 
 “ be little doubt in the mind of a geologist, that the ‘ Rock-marl,’ 
 “ (new-red-sandstonc) ‘formation’ abounds in that part of the 
 “world.” Fossil salt is more common, and is found in larger 
 quantities in central Asia, than in Europe. 
 
 5. Herodotus says that in some parts of Lybia, as well as in 
 Arabia, the dwellings of the inhabitants arc constructed of salt. 
 It is from this quarter, (the desert of Sahara), that central Africa, 
 especially the fertile and populous region drained by the Niger, 
 is supplied with this important article. Shaw describes the ex- 
 tensive rock-salt formations of El Jerred, a part of tire great 
 Sahara, as a solid mountain of a reddish purple color. 
 
 6. Salt springs rise out the red-sandstone formation of Nova 
 Scotia, which furnishes the very great quantity of gypsum that 
 is imported every year into the United States from that pro- 
 vince. About 700,000 bushels of salt were manufactured an- 
 nually, some years since, from the water of salt springs, in the 
 State of New York. The rock from which the water issues, 
 is described by Eaton, as “An aggregate of minute rounded 
 grains of quartzose sand, or of minute argillaceous and quartzose 
 grains, formed into a red or greenish sandstone, or sofl, red or 
 greenish, brittle, clny slntc. ” In thu w-uoiern part of Vir- 
 ginia, in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Ar- 
 kansaw, and indeed throughout the whole basin of the Missis- 
 sippi and its tributary streams, brine springs occur at moderate 
 intervals, but they appear to be more numerous on its western 
 than on its eastern side. About the time of the purchase of that 
 territory by the United States, an immense body of fossil salt, 
 constituting a mountain range, was supposed to exist in Upper 
 Louisiana — the desert tract between the States of Missouri and 
 Arkansaw, and the Rocky Mountains. The exploring expedi- 
 tion sent by the General Government into that region, has 
 rendered it doubtful whether there arc any beds of fossil salt in 
 that part of the United States; though it is certain that if there 
 are none, the whole body of the sandstone must be highly charged 
 with salt, as brine springs abound there. 
 
 “The whole country, near the mountains,” says Dr. James, 
 “abounds in licks, brine springs and saline efllorescences, but it is 
 “in the neighborhood of the red-sand-rock, that salt is met with 
 “ in the greatest abundance and purity. The immediate valley of 
 “the Canadian river, in the upper part of its course, varies in 
 “ width, from a few rods to three or four miles, but it is almost 
 
64 
 
 OF FOSSIL SALT AND GYPSUM- 
 
 “invariably bounded by precipices of red-sand-rock, forming 
 “the river bluffs. In the valley between these, incrustations of 
 “nearly pure salt are often found covering the surface to a great 
 “extent in the manner of thin ice, and causing it to appear 
 “when seen at a distance, as if covered with snow.” “The 
 Canadian, like Red River,” says Mr. Nuttall, “ always continues 
 red and muddy, and is often impolably saline.” Wherever there 
 are salt springs within the limits of the United States, the rocks in 
 the neighbourhood are sandstone, clay, or limestone with organic 
 remains, and in many cases they embrace beds of gypsum. 
 Fossil salt abounds also in Mexico, and South America. 
 
 The saliferous sandstones furnish another example of that too 
 hasty generalization which has so often marked the history 
 whilst it has arrested for a time, the progress of geology. There 
 is a general agreement in the composition, structure, and aspect 
 of these rocks. They contain imbedded masses of salt and gyp- 
 sum. It was inferred that they are of the same age, and were 
 produced by the operation of the same causes in all parts of the 
 world. But when even such as are not very remote from each 
 other, and are supposed to be nearly contemporaneous, are care- 
 fully compared, wide discrepancies appear. Those of England are 
 confined to a single stratum or formation which hardly admits of 
 a subdivision, and in which organic remains, if they occur, are 
 very rare. In France and Germany they extend through at least 
 three different strata, the keuper, muschelkalk, and bunter-sand- 
 stein of the German geologists, of which the last only has an inti- 
 mate agreement with the new-red-sandstone, and the second, 
 abounding in organic remains, is regarded by Brogniart as the 
 proper repository of the suit. Wh**n the test furnished by the 
 imbedded remains is applied to them, the saliferous strata of Spain, 
 France, and Poland are seen to separate widely, proving that the 
 causes which have operated in the formation of these deposits of 
 salt and gypsum, have been repeatedly active upon the surface 
 of the globe, and in places and at epochs far remote from each 
 other. In the state of New York the beds affording these 
 minerals, are separated by three intervening strata. 
 
 32. Next below the new-red-sandstone is the magnesian or 
 conglomerate limestone. To this succeeds in some parts of Eng- 
 land, another red-sandstone, supposed to be the equivalent of the 
 Rothe-liegende, and next to this are the coal measures, the inde- 
 pendent coal formation of Werner. This embraces, with two or 
 three very unimportant exceptions, all the seams of workable coal 
 that exist on the Island of Great Britain. Of course it furnishes 
 nineteen-twentieths of the fuel consumed for domestic purposes, 
 by the population of thecountry-.keeps two hundred and fifty-three 
 iron furnaces of gigantic dimensions, besides innumerable smaller 
 ones, employed in other metallurgic operations, in blast, from one 
 year’s end to another: puts thousands of steam engines in motion, 
 and contributes more than any other one thing to the wealth and 
 
OF MINERAL COAL. 
 
 55 
 
 strength of the kingdom. To an inhabitant of Great Britain, there- 
 fore, this subject must be far more interesting than to ourselves; yet 
 if we take any pleasure in studying the circumstances upon which 
 the wealth of nations depends, and investigating the causes by 
 which their prosperity is promoted, it will not be without attrac- 
 tions for persons born and bred on the western side of the Atlantic. 
 
 Coal, using the word in a sense a little different from that in 
 which it is generally received, for mineral carbon , under what- 
 ever form it appears, is sparingly distributed through all the 
 i formations, from the most ancient primitive, quite up to the most 
 ; recent alluvion. The black lead of Wake county and other parts 
 j of North Carolina, is an example of carbon in a primitive rock. 
 
 | At. the other extremity of the scale is the substance bearing the 
 name of lignite, (fossil wood) still retaining its fibrous texture 
 very perfectly in some places, and in others approaching as neafly 
 to coal, that is found imbedded in the clay and sand of the low- 
 country, one of the most recent of the tertiary strata. If a 
 quantity of fallen leaves be carried down by one of our rivers 
 and deposited in some arm or bay, setting out from the stream, 
 where the water is still, and a layer of sand and gravel be aftcr- 
 • wards thrown out upon this vegetable mass, it will constitute a 
 coal-field in miniature. Time will be required for the chemical 
 affinities to exert themselves, but with time, it will be converted 
 as it is believed that all the varieties of coal have already been 
 converted, into a substance, fitted for the purposes either of manu- 
 facturing industry or domestic cconom) r . 
 
 Peat is a kind of fuel that is now in the act of being formed, 
 especially in the higher latitudes, in all parts of the world. It con- 
 sists of the remains of ancient forests, covered over with beds of 
 moss and sometimes simply of the moss itself, almost to the ex- 
 clusion of everything else. Layer after layer in succession springs 
 up, comes to maturity, decays, and dies, leaving the vegetable 
 matter that entered into its composition, and especially the carbon, 
 upon the spot where it grew. A thick bed is at length formed, 
 i the upper part of which is made up of the roots and stems of the 
 ! sphagnum; (which is the kind of moss that flourishes most in such 
 situations as arc favourable to the formation of peat); the middle 
 is much altered by the action of the water, and the bottom is 
 3 converted into what is nearly related to coal. 
 
 33. All the strata mentioned in the enumeration heretofore 
 made, as forming together the south-eastern part of the island of 
 Great Britian exhibit thin scams of coal, but except in the single 
 formation to which our attention is now directed, they are not 
 worth working — are mere objects of geological curiosity. But the 
 mineral wealth of the coal measures makes ample compensation 
 for the poverty of the other strata. 
 
 They consist of a series of alternating beds of coal, slate clay, 
 and sandstone, the alternations being frequently and indefinitely 
 repeated. 
 
5G 
 
 OF mineral coal. 
 
 There are two principal kinds of coal, 1. anthracite , which is 
 found in Kilkenny county, (Ireland), in some parts of Wales, and 
 in immense quantities in the State of Pennsylvania. It is com- 
 posed principally of carbon with a portion of earthy matter and 
 water. It burns with very little of either smoke or flame. 2. 
 bituminous coal , which is the kind raised from most of the British 
 coal fields. This, besides the carbon which is its principal con- 
 stituent, contains both hydrogen and nitrogen. Of the manner 
 in which these elements are combined or associated, we have little 
 accurate knowledge. It has been supposed that the hydrogen is 
 united to a part of the carbon, forming bitumen, which exists in 
 the mass of tire coal. In consequence of the volatility of the 
 bitumen, this kind yields a flame when it is burnt, and some sorts 
 more than others. Newcastle coal undergoes a kind of fusion, by 
 which the separate pieces arc united into one mass, when it feels 
 the influence of the heat, from which it is called caking coal. — 
 Other varieties from other localities have this quality imperfectly 
 or not at all. 
 
 All the beds of coal, slate clay, and sandstone, taken together 
 forma stratum, which in Northumberland, is three thousand feet, 
 or more than half a mile in thickness. The thickness, however, 
 varies greatly in different places, and this is probably the greatest 
 that occurs throughout the whole extent of the formation. About 
 twenty feet of it only arc made up of scams of workable coal, but 
 these seams extend over an area of one hundred and eighty square 
 miles. It is from this quarter that London and all the eastern and 
 the southern part of England, as far west as Plymouth, are sup- 
 plied with fuel, and a demand is created for an annual excavation 
 of about three millions of cubic, yards. The beds of this field are 
 eighty-two in number. Twenty-five are beds of coal, generally 
 too thin to be worked, and fifty-seven, sandstone, and slate clay. 
 The two most important coal seams arc the high main and low 
 main ; the former four hundred and fifty feet below the surface, 
 and six feet thick; the latter three hundred and sixty feet deeper, 
 and six feet three inches thick. The main seam in the Dudley 
 and Birmingham coal field is thirty feet in thickness. 
 
 The coal formation has been spoken of hitherto as a single 
 stratum, separating the more ancient from the more recent beds, 
 and it might be supposed that it extends quite through the island. 
 But this is by no means the case. It consists of a number 
 of separate deposits, which are probably of about the same age, 
 though they do not very intimately resemble each other; occupy- 
 ing irregular, basin-shaped cavities, scattered through the central 
 and western parts of the kingdom. The most extensive and 
 important, are those of Northumberland, of the West Riding of 
 Yorkshire, of Lancashire, of Stafford and Warwickshires, of 
 South Wales, and in Scotland, that which extends across the is- 
 land from the opening of the Frith of Forth, in a south-westerly 
 direction, and within which the cities of Edinburg and Glasgow 
 are included. 
 
0T MINERAL COAL. 
 
 57 
 
 S3. The ancient Britons and Romans must have been acquainted 
 with coal as an inflammable substance, it being sometimes found 
 at the surface, especially in the bottoms of ravines and the beds 
 of rivers. But the whole country being shaded like our own by 
 interminable forests, no use was made of it for fuel. It has been 
 an article of commerce for seven hundred years. It is believed 
 by those who have paid particular attention to the subject, that 
 the mines will continue to supply the wants of the country at the 
 present rate of demand for some centuries to come. Yet it is 
 certain that they must eventually be exhausted, and the formation 
 in which they are, be stripped altogether of its mineral treasures, 
 and as there is no other carboniferous stratum to which recourse 
 may be had, the people of England must be driven back to the 
 use of wood for fuel. The elfects of such an event upon the 
 populousness, wealth, and strength of the country, it requires no 
 great amount of penetration to foresee. Its approach would be 
 greatly retarded if some method could be devised of extracting the 
 whole contents of'the coal fields, and making them available 
 either in domestic economy or the processes of manufacture; but 
 at present from a quarter to a half, and in some mines as much as 
 two-thirds of the whole amount of coal they contain, is either 
 left behind or expended and wasted in different ways in bringing 
 the rest to the surface. • Nor does it appear that this immense 
 loss can be very materially diminished. Massive pillars of coal 
 must necessarily be left untouched in every mipe to support the 
 superincumbent strata, and prevent them from sinking down 
 and crushing the workmen — and although . these are afterwards 
 wrought Out and raised to the surface, the coal they yield is ob- 
 tained with much additional labour, danger, and loss. 
 
 That the coal fields have not had too much importance attributed 
 to them, in determining the present condition of the British Em- 
 pire will be conceded when it is remarked that the seats of all the 
 important manufactures are either within the limits of the coal 
 formations or on their borders, and that they draw from them the 
 principal element, of their activity. The steam engine, the 
 machinery employed in-the spinning of cotton and wool, and more 
 recently of flax, that which is an important auxiliary in the manu- 
 facture of earthen and hardware, and cutlery, would all become, 
 in a great measure, useless and unavailable, if the supply of coal 
 for the creation of steam were to be exhausted. The mines of 
 copper, tin, and lead would be abandoned from the impossibility 
 of draining them, as would those of iron, when the ores could no 
 longer be smelted, and those of salt when there was no fuel for the 
 evaporation of the brine. The principal reason why Great Britain 
 is able. to maintain the position she has gained and defy compe- 
 tition iff the market of the civilized world for the products of art 
 and manufacture, is, that she can at a cheap rate bring the untir- 
 ing powers and agencies of nature to contend with human strength. 
 Steam does for her, what in other parts of the world is accomplished 
 
 6 
 
OF MINERAL COAL. 
 
 es 
 
 by animal muscle and sinew. The following is the value in round 
 numbers of the principal products of British industry, taken from 
 McCulloch, the- price of the raw material being included. 
 
 Cotton Manufacture, $150,000,000. Iron Manufacture, - - $25,000,000. 
 Woollen, “ - - 100,000,000. Copper, tin, lead, salt, - 12,000,000. 
 
 Hardware, “ - - - 70,000,000. Earthenware, “ - - . 10,000,000. 
 Linen, “ - - 30,000,000. Glass, “ ... 8,000,000. 
 
 The great seat of the manufacture of cotton, is on the Lanca- 
 shire coal field at Manchester, and in the region north of it; of 
 wool, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in a district about ten 
 miles in diameter, lying south-west of Leeds; of cutlery, at Shef- 
 field, on the same coal field; of earthenware, in the northern part 
 of Staffordshire, near Newcastle under line, where there is an 
 abundant supply of excellent coal; of salt in Cheshire,, which is 
 surrounded by coal fields; of hardware, exclusive of cutlery, at 
 Birmingham, the toy-shop of Europe, close by the rich deposits 
 of Soulh Staffordshire — which deposits as well as those of South 
 Wales, afford immense quantities of iron lying imbedded in layers 
 in the strata of slate clay accompanying the coal, and there being 
 a plenty of limestone in the immediate neighbourhood, all the 
 materials for the manufacture of iron are found in close proximity, 
 whilst they are easy of access. The iron u$ed in the construction 
 of the rail roads of the United States is made either in Stafford- 
 shire or in South Wales. Coal for the steam engines used in 
 draining the mines of Cornwall, is carried from Wales, and the 
 vessels are laden on their return with copper ore, the most of 
 which is smelted at Swansea. Glass is made in various places, 
 but always in the coal region. The linen manufacture has flourish- 
 ed most in the north of Ireland, which is well supplied with fuel 
 from Lancashire and Scotland. The part of Scotland lying about 
 Glasgow, is outstripping every other in wealth and population. 
 At Leeds, coal sells for £51. 7S per ton, at Sheffield for $1.67, in 
 Staffordshire at from $2.00 to 2.67 for the best kind ; Schuylkill 
 coal in New York at $6.50, and at the mine for $2.25. Whilst the 
 ancient towns of Canterbury, Winchester, and Salisbury, in the 
 South of England, have remained nearly stationary; those which 
 have been mentioned as the principal seats of these different manu- 
 factures, have increased rapidly in size and importance. 
 
 Few parts of the world at present known, if any, are as abun- 
 dantly supplied with coal as the British Islands; and perhaps there 
 is no country upon whose strength and wealth, extensive mines of 
 this substance could have so decisive an influence. The coldness 
 of the climate demands a great annual consumption of fuel for 
 domestic purposes: if we except the northern part of Scotland, 
 there are no where, extensive mountain tracts, incapable of culti- 
 vation, to be devoted to its growth. It abounds in the metallic 
 ores, especially in the ores of iron, in the smelting of which, 
 mineral coal has been for many years most advantageously ap- 
 
OF MINEBAL COAL. 
 
 59 
 
 plied, whilst the smallness of the superficial contents of these 
 islands, compared with that of their rival states and kingdoms, on 
 the continent, requires a dense population, deriving its subsis- 
 tence in part from abroad in exchange for manufactures, to enable 
 them to maintain the place they have long held in the scale of 
 nations, and to the successful prosecution of almost every kind of 
 manufacture, a plentiful supply of fuel is altogether necessary. 
 The facilities for water carriage afforded by the seas by which 
 they are surrounded, and the rivers and canals by which they are 
 traversed, favour greatly the transportation of the cord, to every 
 part of the country. It is unpleasant to feel that we are drawing 
 from stores of an indispensable material, whose riches are limited, 
 which can never be replenished, and which must therefore even- 
 tually be exhausted; but it would be unreasonable in a Briton to 
 resign himself to melancholy, in view of the final degradation 
 that awaits his country, as it is supposed that the present expen- 
 diture may continue for a thousand years longer, before the use 
 of coal for fuel- must be abandoned. 
 
 84 . The coal fields of France are much smaller and less nume- 
 rous than those of England. They are distributed through an 
 elevated, central, and primitive plateau, lying on the west side of 
 the Rhone, between the latitudes of 44 ° and 47 °, amongst the 
 head waters of the Loire and Garonne. The northernmost is in the 
 department of Nievre, the most southern in that of Gard. The 
 largest and most valuable is that of St. Etienne, in the department 
 of Loire, extending over an area of eighty-seven square miles. 
 This furnishes nearly half of the coal that is raised annually in 
 France. A coal formation extends across Belgium, from near Aix- 
 la-Chapelle, in a south-westerly direction by Liege,Namur, Char- 
 leroi and Mons, to the neighbourhood of Valenciennes, within 
 the border of France. East of this, beds of the same mineral 
 are found in Saxony, Bohemia and Hungary. Italy has no coal. 
 It is known to exist in Asia Minor, Syria, India, China, Japan, 
 New Holland, Van Dieman’s Land, and in some parts of Africa. 
 
 Beds of coat are rare in that part of the United States lying 
 east of the Blue Ridge. Anthracite is found at Worcester in 
 Massachusetts, and in considerable quantity in Rhode Island ; 
 bituminous coal in Virginia, fourteen miles west of Richmond, 
 and on the banks of Deep River, Chatham Co. in North Carolina. 
 The Virginia coal field occupies a trough in the primary rocks, 
 thirty-five miles in length, and eight miles across at the widest 
 point. The principal body of the coal lies at the bottom, and 
 along the sides of the trough, cither in contact with the subjacent 
 rock, or separated from it by a layer of shale a couple of feet in 
 thickness. It crops out, therefore, along the edges of the field. 
 A few feet above, are one or more seams of coal, superimposed 
 upon which, are from five hundred to one thousand feet of sand- 
 stone. The original floor of the mine appears to have been very 
 uneven, and the coal to have been collected into the hollows be- 
 
60 
 
 THEORETICAL G EOLOG Y.— INTRODUCTORT. 
 
 fore the sand was brought over it, so that the thickness^of the seam 
 or bed of coal, varies from a few inches, to forty or fifty feet. 
 
 But the principal coal fields of 1 the United States are amongst 
 the ridges of the Alleghany Mountains, and on the west side of 
 them, especially in Pennsylvania, which appears to abound 
 beyond every other part of our country in this mineral. The 
 great anthracite formations of Pennsylvania are on the eastern 
 side of the Susqueh;yina river, on the head waters of the Schuylkill 
 and Lehigh, and also on both sides and beneath the bed of -the 
 Lackawanna, and of the Susquehanna, where it traverses the 
 Wy oming valley. For the number and thickness of the beds, 
 there is no parallel on the eastern continent. At Mauch-Chunk, 
 on the Lehigh, the coal mine is an open quarry, exhibiting on its 
 sides, precipices of solid coal, from twelve Jo thirty-five feet in 
 height.. Bituminous coal abounds in the western part of Pennsyl- 
 vania, especially about Pittsburg, 'and is found in a number of other 
 places in the Valley of the Mississippi, — in Ohio, Kentucky, 
 Te nnessee, Alabama, but the fact only of its existence has been 
 ascertained, very little being known about the number, thickness 
 or extent of the beds. There is probably no country in the 
 world that will compare with Pennsylvania in the number, 
 extent, and riches of its coal-fields, a circumstance that is destined 
 a^a future day, to have an important - influence upon the relative 
 powei* and standing of that state amongst the members of this 
 confederacy. 
 
 The shales and sandstones accompanying goal, present impres- 
 sions of vegetables, and other appearances, which have induced 
 a general belief amongst geologists, that the beds of this mineral, 
 in all parts of the world, have proceeded from the decomposition 
 of vegetables, bearing little resemblance in form, or the manner 
 of their growth, to such as now occupy the soil of the same 
 countries. 
 
 THEORETICAL GEOLOGY.— INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 35. From documents that have descended to us from other 
 ages, we draw up an account of the most important and remark- 
 able of the transactions of men, and call it a history of the world. 
 This record of the events of other times is carefully studied, 
 and the names of the great men of Greece and Italy, are as 
 familiar to us as those of oar intimate friends and acquaintance. 
 We require minute accuracy in the account given of the causes 
 bv which the rise, advancement, and decay of empires has been 
 produced and promoted, even when no lesson of wisdom or vir- 
 tue can be drawn from the change, and the only object in view, 
 is the gratification of an enlightened curiosity. 
 
 May we not be permitted to devote a few pages to the history 
 of the earth itself, of the revolutions it has undergone, antk by 
 which it has been brought into the condition in which we now 
 
THEORETICAL GEOLOGY. INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 61 
 
 behold it. It is not states and empires alone that have been torn 
 by intestine commotions. The evidence is ample, that the solid 
 fabric of the globe has been shaken and rent. The history of 
 these changes is brief ; it is written on the stony strata of the 
 earth. But if the events recorded are few in number, they are 
 attractive from their magnificence. 
 
 In no department of science is an acute, buGsober and cautious 
 judgment more necessary, than in decyphering these ancient 
 i records. Every character from which . valuable information can 
 be derived must bo passed under review, and the instruction 
 elicited which it is capable of conveying. At the same time we 
 must be on our guard, and see that fancy does not get the mastery 
 j over the judgment, lest we find in the present appearances of the 
 globe, evidences of changes that have never occurred, and of 
 which no indications can be discovered by any eye but ours. 
 
 The nature of the danger, and also of the investigations upon 
 which we are about to enter, may be illustrated by an example. 
 It is well known that on the banks of the Nile are various fabrics, 
 especially temples, and tombs of colossal dimensions, some of 
 which stand upon the surface of the soil, and others arc excava- 
 ted in the rocks under ground. The material of which they are 
 formed varies with the geological character of the district in 
 which they are. In the southern, or upper end of the valley of 
 Egypt, they are hewn out of granite, lower down they are exe- 
 cuted in sandstone, and finally we come to the pyramids, built, as 
 has been already stated, of secondary limestone. One must have 
 been upon the spot if he would have an accurate idea of the vast- 
 ness and solidity oT these ancient structures. Their walls are 
 covered with hieroglyphics. Of the language of the people by 
 whom these works were executed, we know next to nothing. 
 If they had historians, their works have perished, so that it is 
 from “lying Greece,” that we have derived the little we profess 
 to know respecting them. But we will suppose the light shed 
 j by Grecian literature upon the antiquities of Egypt, to be extin- 
 j guished, and that under these circumstances, an intelligent trav- 
 ] eller passing under the portico of an Egyptian temple, should 
 5 wish to know something of the character, condition, and fortunes 
 jj of the people by wlvoin it was built; there are a few particulars, 
 
 1 respecting which he would bo able to arrive at a good degree 
 
 j of certainty. 
 
 He would not, for instance, doubt that there once existed along 
 the banks of the Nile, a numerous, industrious and flourishing peo- 
 ple, united for a long time under one government. They must have 
 been numerous and industrious, or they never would have been able 
 to execute such stupendous works. They must have been united 
 j under one government, because a number of little independent 
 states, would never have combined for the erection of so many 
 "costly structures, and have adhered to their engagements until 
 I they were completed. The unity of design observable in these 
 
 6 ' 
 
62 
 
 hdtton’s theory. 
 
 temples, taken in connexion with the time, that at the shortest 
 must have been consumed in finishing them, proves that a particu- 
 lar scheme was formed at the beginning, and long pursued. 
 
 ,sTh© greater part of the edifices, affording evidence from their 
 plan and decorations, that they were devoted to the services q£ 
 religion, it would appear very probable that the body in whom 
 the supreme control of affairs was vested, was a despotic priest- 
 hood- It seems, besides, scarcely possible, that anything short 
 of a dread of the anner of heaven, perpetually instilled by such a 
 body of men, could procure the sacrifice of so vast an amount of 
 human labour, for an object not immediately and visibly connected 
 with the personal enjoyment of the individuals by whom it was 
 performed. 
 
 From the skill and science that must have been employed in 
 cutting, transporting, and raising such immense masses of stone, 
 it must be further evident, that this ancient people had arrived at 
 a considerable degree of advancement in civilization and the arts. 
 
 So long as he confined himself to inferences, such as these, when 
 speaking of the ancient Egyptians, our traveller would be tread- 
 ing on safe ground; but if from the scanty materials furnished on 
 the spot, he should pretend to specify the particular methods by 
 which that ancient people was consolidated, arid why it flourished 
 and fell, he would be forsaking the path of the inductive philoso- 
 phy, and invading the field of the epic poet. In the science of 
 Geology we are safe, so long as we confine ourselves to legiti- 
 mate inferences from well established facts, and state what has 
 happened, rather than the particular manner in which it was ac- 
 complished; but when without interrogating nature we begin to 
 state with precise accuracy, how the earth may have been formed, 
 or its strata in the first instance deposited, and afterwards brought 
 into the positions in which we find them, we fall into the errors of 
 Hutton and Werner. The investigation of the causes of change, 
 is not, however, to he neglected in the history of the earth any 
 more than in that of man, and we arc led, therefore, to notice the 
 two principal agents by which the various revolutions to which 
 our planet has been subjected , are supposed to have been produced. 
 
 HUTTON’S THEORY. 
 
 36 . It has already appeared that of the various kinds of rock, 
 some exhibit a crystalline structure, and the greater part a con- 
 siderable degree of hardness. But we know of no examples of 
 crystallization and consolidation, except from a state of fluidity. 
 A heap of sand or of any dry powder, will remain for ages with- 
 out exhibiting any tendency to unite into a solid body. We in-, 
 fer, therefore, that the crystalline rocks must have been in a fluid, 
 and a part of the earthy ones also in a fluid, or the whole in a 
 semifluid state. But the only two agents which are capable of 
 bringing them into that state, are heat and moisture, fire and 
 
button’s theory. 
 
 63 
 
 water. By the application of a heat sufficiently intense, earthy 
 bodies are fused. On cooling they harden, and if the refrigera- 
 tion be very 6low, many of them will exhibit more or less of a 
 crystalline structure. If immersed in water they are dissolved to 
 some extent, or if they are in fine powder they remain suspended 
 in the water, and when this is evaporated , consolidation and crys- 
 tallization takes place as before. Werner, ns we have seen, 
 attributed the great changes the earth has undergone to l lie agency 
 of water. Hutton allowed (hat water had been active in produc- 
 ing changes upon the surface of the globe, but with him the great 
 efficient agent that gave the rocks their structure and form, was fire. 
 
 Hutton first remarked, that the mountains and hills are contin- 
 ually wasted by the action of the elements. Their highest peaks’ 
 are abraded by storms, the finer particles arc carried to a distance 
 by the torrents that rush down their sides, and the larger deposited 
 -at their bases. This process will continue to go on, until the 
 whole mass of the existing continents shall have been carried 
 down to the ocean, over the bottom of which the earthy matter 
 will, by the rolling of the waves and the currents that prevail 
 there, be distributed. 
 
 In this situation the mineral beds will be fused, and elevated by 
 the action of an internal fire. What is now the bottom of the sea 
 will become dry land, and the waves will roll over countries that 
 have once been the dwelling [dace of men. Such revolutions 
 . Hutton asserted have more than once changed the face of the 
 globe, and that they will be indefinitely repeated hereafter. 
 
 The Wernerians objected to these doctrines, the existence of 
 carbonate of lime amongst all classes of rocks. This substance is 
 converted into quicklime, by the escape of its carbonic acid when 
 strongly heated. Sir James Hall, the intimate friend of Hutton, 
 undertook to relieve his theory from a part of the difficulties under 
 which it laboured, by exposing carbonate of lime and other sub- 
 stances to heat under pressure , for it was under pressure — • 
 i weighed down by an immense superincumbent load, that the 
 existing mountains were fused and consolidated. lie found that 
 in such circumstances carbonate of lime may be fused and made 
 | to assume a crystalline structure, without parting with its acid, 
 1: and that the appearance of various substances is very different, as 
 after- having been intensely heated they are rapidly or slowly 
 cooled. 
 
 There was further objected to Hutton, the immense number of 
 ages it must take to wear down the largest mountain ranges formed 
 of very refractory and imperishable materials. In some favourable 
 situations the disintegration of the rocks proceeds rapidly, hut in 
 others the progress of the work is inconceivably slow. The pil- 
 lars and 'statuary of the Parthenon at Athens, have lost hardly any 
 of the sharpness of the angles produced by the original chiseling, 
 after a lapse of more than two thousand years. The graves of the 
 aborignal Britons still exhibit themselves, rising distinctly above 
 
04 
 
 CAUSES OP GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 the surface of the ground, though thrown up before the time of 
 Caesar’s invasion. The objection was held to be a valid and strong 
 one, though as Hutton set no limit to the time during-which the 
 revolutions he supposed the earth to be undergoing, and to have 
 undergone, are accomplished, his partizans would notallow it the 
 weight to which it seemed to be entitled. 
 
 A more powerful and decisive objection to the theory of Hutton 
 was found in the absence of positive evidence of its truth, so that 
 ■when philosophers were called upon to embrace it, they held it to 
 be enough to demand in return the proof of the existence of that 
 central lire, by which the mineral beds constituting the bottom of 
 the 6ca were to be fused, and the mountains thrown up, and that 
 it would operate in the way and produce the effects ascribed to 
 it. Of the two rival theories — those of Hutton and Werner, 
 neither is at present held in the form under which it was pro- 
 posed by its author; but there has unquestionably been a tendency 
 in the progress of geological discovery and doctrine, to approach 
 that of Hutton, rather than the other. 
 
 CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 37. Before entering upon the subject of theoretical geology, it 
 will be necessary to turn our attention to the agents that are now “ 
 modifying the surface of the globe, and enquire what are their 
 modes of action, and what the nature and extent of the effects they 
 produce. We shall thus be prepared to judge whether the .an- 
 cient revolutions of the earth bore any intimate resemblance to 
 the changes that arc proceeding before our eyes, so that we may 
 safely attribute the formation of the primitive, transition, and 
 secondary strata to the operation of causes that are now active, or 
 we are compelled to assume the existence of agents that have now 
 disappeared from the face of the globe — or whether again suppos- 
 ing the agents the same we must assign to them a strength and 
 activity in the most ancient times, very far superior to what is 
 exerted by them now. It has been represented that the»$arth 
 as at present, and has been (with a single exception) si rice' the 
 era of the creation of man, in a state of comparative repose, -the 
 convulsions to which it has been subjected since that event, as well 
 as the changes now in progress, being inconsiderable when com- 
 pared with those of earlier date, A contrary opinion has beea 
 advanced and advocated with great ability within the last few 
 years — that the amount of geological action and change is much 
 the same from age to age: that the ranges of high mountains 
 which traverse the surface of the globe, have not been produced 
 by a few violent convulsions, but are the final result of an accu- 
 mulation of effects each in itself inconsiderable, and requiring 
 together myriads of ages for their accomplishment. Whichever 
 of these opinions we embrace, a knowledge of the present will be 
 
CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 65 
 
 i 
 
 of value, and assist us in explaining the past. The causes of 
 geological phenomena, now in active operation, are the following: 
 
 38. 1. — The atmosphere; including the different substances 
 accidentally mixed with it, and the agents by which its own 
 condition and its effects upon the other forms of matter are 
 modified. 
 
 There is good reason to believe that much of the surface of the 
 existing continents where it comes into contact with the atmos- 
 phere, was originally a solid rock, which by the combined action 
 of the air, of heat, cold, moisture, and the mechanical force of vio- 
 lent storms, has been gradually disintegrated and converted into 
 soil. The amount of effect produced upon the rocks 1)3' these 
 destroying agents, depends upon their position, form, and structure, 
 as well as their composition. The progress of these changes in 
 the trap rocks is a subject of considerable interest, by reason of 
 its furnishing data, from which to calculate without certain limits, 
 the time when the existence of a given mass upon the surface of 
 the earth commenced, and the number of' the ages, therefore, 
 during which the part of the earth’s surface immediately about it, 
 has remained pretty ncarl} - in the condition in which we now 
 behold it. 
 
 , These rocks often present themselves under the form of moun- 
 tain ranges of considerable elevation and many miles in length, 
 
 ■ with mural precipices on one side, and sometimes on both sides. 
 They are traversed by rents and fissures in different directions, 
 which subjects them, especially inliigh latitudes, to a pretty rapid 
 disintegration! Rain water insinuates itself into their crevices, 
 and being congealed and expanded there, fragments of considera- 
 ble size are torn off, and accumulated around the base of the 
 precipice, forming at length a considerable mass reposing in a 
 sloping position against the side of the mountain. What is here 
 stated os true of the trap is found to obtain in a greater or less 
 degree in other rock formations. 
 
 Of the rapidity with which the process is going on, we are 
 | able to judge with a considerable degree of accuracy from what 
 I occurs from year to year, and presuming that the rate of disinte- 
 5 gration has been in all ages pretty nearly the same, we may evi- 
 5 dently calculate within certain limits, the time when the moun- 
 | tain. assumed its form, and exhibited a perpendicular face from top 
 j to bottom. 
 
 Loose sands are in some parts of the world raised b}' the winds 
 out of their bed, and driven onwards over fertile fields which are 
 buried up and consigned to sterility and desolation. Thus a 
 considerable portion of ancient Egypt, a soil once occupied by a 
 very dense population, has been long since buried under the sands 
 of the great Lybian desert. Similar effects, but on a more limited 
 scale, have been produced in that part of the kingdom of France, 
 
66 
 
 CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 ■which lies along the bay of Biscay, and at a few points on the 
 Atlantic coast of the United States. 
 
 2. Rivers ; which act upon their own beds, and also carry 
 down to the sea the finer particles of earth that are xvashed 
 into them from the hills amongst which they fow. 
 
 The rocks and stones in the beds of all streams that flow with 
 any considerable degree of rapidity, are tumbled by the current 
 upon each other, and gradually diminished in size and worn into 
 a round form by the attrition they undergo. All streams are 
 rendered turbid by earthy matter, brought in by w&tef* that has 
 fallen in rain upon the tract drained by them, at some season of 
 the year The fine sand and clay they hold suspended are 
 deposited at their mouths, forming a Delta or body of alluvial 
 ground, which is periodically extended, and with a considerable 
 degree of uniformity. The progress of these changes is matter of 
 observation and history. “ Many cities,” says Cuvier, “which 
 were flourishing sea-ports in well known periods of history, are 
 now several leagues inland, and several have even been ruined by 
 this change.” We learn from Strabo that Ravenna stood among 
 lagunes, in the time of Augustus, as Venice does now; but Ra- 
 venna is now at the distance of a league from the sea. Adria, 
 which gave name to the Adriatic, was somewhat more than twenty 
 centuries ago the chief port of that sea, from which it is now at 
 the distance of eighteen miles. The whole of the north-western 
 border of the Adriatic, where it receives the streams that flow 
 down from the Alps, through an extent of one hundred miles, and 
 from two to twenty miles in breadth has been gained from the 
 sea, and converted into a low marsh within the last two thousand 
 years. The cities, Rosetta and Foah, built originally at the 
 points where the lower branches of the Nile join the Mediterra- 
 nean, afford the same evidence of the extension of the land, being 
 now at some distance from the sea. The Delta of the Ganges and 
 Burrampooter, extends two hundred miles along the coast, and 
 not less than two hundred and twenty into the interior. That 
 of the Mississippi is constantly advancing into the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 In the formation of a Delta, the sediment is thrown down fir3t 
 and most abundantly at the mouth, and on the immediate bank of 
 the stream, and a long narrow ridge is created, the middle of which 
 is occupied throughout its length by tbc river channel. The 
 declivity of the plane along which the water flows, being dimin- 
 ished by an increase in its length, whilst its altitude remains the 
 same; the sediment is also accumulated at the bottom, which is 
 thus raised, and the stream may be described as running upon a 
 ridge, with a tendency becoming constantly greater -to pass its . 
 banks and deluge the country on either hand. The Mississippi 
 exhibits these results in the lower part of its course. The ridge 
 formed by its alluvion is about three miles in width, including the f- 
 stream, and twenty-four feet high; but as the river is from one ^ 
 hundred to one hundred and sixty feet deep, its bottom is far be- 
 
CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 67 
 
 low the general level of the country and below the level of the 
 sea. It is to this ridge that the plantations near the river, both 
 above and below New Orleans are confined. It is evident that 
 after having observed the rate of yearly increase, and traced the 
 alluvial formation up to the point where it commenced, we have, 
 as in tbp case of the trap rocks, the data necessary for calculating, 
 though not with any very great degree of accuracy, the time when 
 it began to be created. 
 
 In some countries, springs rise out of the earth charged with car- 
 bonate oflimc, which they hold dissolved by means of the carbonic 
 acid they contain, and others are impregnated silica. These sub- 
 ! stances they deposit, commonly at no great distance from the 
 j fountain head. The travertino of the Roman states, extensively 
 I used as a building stone, and the incrustations about the hot springs 
 1 of Iceland and the Azores, are examples of such formations. 
 
 3. The sea; which in some parts of the world is rapidly un- 
 dermining the coasts of the continent, and in others throwing 
 up long ranges of sand banks. 
 
 Where it is the former process that is going on; the earth that 
 falls down when the under-stratum that supported it is removed, 
 is first accumulated around the base of the cliff. Afterwards the 
 influx and efflux of the tide spreads this mass over the bottom of 
 the adjacent sea, till at length a bank is formed which curbs the 
 fury of the waves, and prevents any farther encroachment. But 
 when a current sweeping over the spot carries off the materials of 
 the cliff as they fall, the work of destruction goes on indefinitely. 
 The sea is in this way making inroads upon the land at a great 
 number x»f -points on the eastern coast of England. 
 
 In the other case the flood tide brings in a quantity of mud and 
 sand, which the succeeding ebb does not carry away, and a long 
 line of banks is sometimes formed at a distance from the ancient 
 boundary of land and water. It is in this way, according to some 
 geologists, that the whole low country of the United States has 
 been thrown up. 
 
 4. Avery diminutive race of animals — the Zoophytes which 
 \ inhabit the various kinds of coral and madrepore, arc form- 
 I ins islands in the mid-ocean, and reefs and shelves along the 
 1 coasts of the continents. 
 
 | The Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and that part 
 3 of the Pacific lying within the latitude of thirty degrees on 
 j both sides of the equator, are amongst the well known theatres of 
 i their operations; the activity and amount of which, however, ap- 
 pear to have been over-rated. Thus the harbours of the Red Sea, 
 upon the excellence of which, as well as upon the safety of the 
 navigation of the sea itself, the commercial prosperity of Ancient 
 Egypt depended, have been represented as entirely choaked 
 up by reefe of coral that have been created in later times, and are 
 still increasing in extent But the ruin of these harbours is now 
 
68 
 
 CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 said to have been produced by the accumulation of sand and ott 
 causes. 
 
 Most of the low islands of tire Pacific are supposed to own their 
 existence to the labours of the Zoophytes. A generation of these 
 aaimalcules, planted by means that are unknown to us, occupies 
 with a colony a certain extent of surface; probably the tops of a 
 mountain at the bottom of the sea — in some cases at least, the 
 circular edge of the crater of a submarine volcano. After havfbg 
 lived out the natural term of its existence it perishes, leaving 'its 
 habitations behind. The material of which they are bcfil t is car- 
 bonate of lime, with a very small quantity of animal matter asso- 
 ciated with it. On the top of the layer of coral thus produced, 
 a second generation comes into being, and shares the fate of its 
 predecessor. Others succeed, until at length an immense column 
 is raised in the sea, its top being larger than its base, and its height 
 from fifty to one hundred feet. When they have brought this pro- 
 duct of their labours to the level of low water mark, new genera- 
 tions cease to be produced upon its top. To be constantly covered 
 with water seems to be indispensable to their existence. “13uh 
 “ the sand, pieces of coral, and other broken fragments thrown up 
 “by the sea, adhere to the rock and form a solid mass upon it as 
 “high as the common tides reach. That elevation surpassed, 
 “the future remnants being rarely covered, lose their adhesive 
 “property, and remaining in a loose state, form what is usually 
 “called o key upon the top of the reef. The new bank is not 
 “long in being visited by sea birds, salt plants take root.upon It, 
 “and a soil begins to be formed ; a cocoa-nut or the drupe offa-pan- 
 “danus is thrown on shore; land birds visit it and deposit the seeds 
 “of shrubs and trees; every high tide, and still more every gale, 
 “adds something to the bank, the form of an island is gradually 
 “assumed, and last of all comes man to take possession.” 
 
 And a wet uncomfortable time he would have of it unquestio- 
 nably. The case furnishes another example of those rash infer-* 
 ences from premises which do not warrant the conclusions that 
 are drawn from them, which are unfortunately not yet altogether 
 banished from the science of geology. Jt is^ery evident that the*, 
 waves cannot, unaided and alone, throw up an’island over which 
 they will not continue to break during every violent storm. 
 
 It is quite certain that the coral reels traversing those seas, have 
 been created in the manner supposed. It is further certain that 
 before becoming the habitation and dwelling place of man, they 
 must, in all cases, have been placed beyond the reach of the 
 waves; either by a depression of the general level of the ocean, 
 or by being lifted out of its bed by a force acting from below. 
 And after having studied the effects of volcanic action in other 
 parts of the globe, we shall become satisfied that it has in all* 
 cases been conjoined with the labours of the Zoophytes in the 
 production of the coral islands of the Pacific. 
 

 VOLCANOES. 
 
 69 
 
 i. 1 ' 
 
 ; * 
 
 39. — 5. The cause of vo/canoes and earthquakes, which , as 
 they are now regarded as having a common origin , will be 
 treated of under the same common title. 
 
 Of (he five causes of geological phenomena now in active opera- 
 tion, this will require by far the most careful and extended con- 
 sideration, fur two reasons. First; because the changes produced 
 by it in the crust of the earth within the period to which history 
 ascends, are by no means inconsiderable, and secondly, because 
 the evidence is constantly accumulating of its having been the 
 principal agent in the production of the existing continents, and 
 communicating to the earth the most remarkable features by 
 I which its exterior surface is distinguished. • 
 
 A volcano is an opening made by subterraneous fire in the 
 I outer crust of the earth , through which are ejected , vapour , 
 smoke, and stones, with streams of melted rock called lava. 
 Some volcanoes throw out boiling water and mud. 
 
 At the instant of its foimation, every volcano appears to have 
 been simply an opening in the crust of the earth; but the stones 
 that are thrown out, being urged onward by a considerable pro- 
 jectile force, and their patli declining more or less from a perpen- 
 dicular, many of them fall at a distance from the orifice through 
 which they issued, so that at first a small hillock and eventually 
 a mountain, sometimes of gigantic dimensions is formed — of 
 which the small ant hills that appear everywhere in a dry soil in 
 the summer, furnish a good miniature representation. The form 
 of.both is the same; a truncated cone with a funnel shaped cavity, 
 scoped out in its top: the inclination of both its interior and ex- 
 terior surface being such as is just sufficient to prevent a fragment 
 of the material of which the whole pile is built, from rolling to 
 the bottom where it is placed upon the dividing ridge. 1 1 may be ap- 
 propriate to mention also, that an ant hill an inch in height, and 
 having the form of TEtna, would occupy about the same relative 
 space in a field of seven acres, that .Etna does upon the surface of 
 the globe. The whole mass of a volcanic mountain is not, how- 
 ( ever, in all cases made of materials that have been projected into 
 
 I the air, and afterwards fallen to the earth. The melted lava 
 
 sometimes rises in the cavity or crater, so as either to fill it to the 
 l brim and pour over its top, or after ascending to a certain height 
 
 I finds a passage through its side. In either case, after flowing to 
 
 l a distance determined by the degree of its fluidity, and the sur- 
 
 1 face of the ground near the base ot the mountain, it is consolidated 
 
 into a rock, adding something to the general elevation of the dis- 
 trict in which the volcano is situated. Sometimes also it tears 
 away and scatters over the adjacent country one of the sides of 
 the volcanic cone, destroying altogether the symmetry and beauty 
 of its form. The following are the additional facts respecting 
 volcanoes, which may be regarded as more particularly worthy 
 of attention. 
 
 7 
 
70 
 
 CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 1. The cause of the activity of volcanoes , whatever may he 
 its nature, is extensively distributed through the crust of the 
 globe, since there is no part of it of considerable extent in 
 which they do not occur. 
 
 They are more frequently upon islands than on the continent. 
 Iceland, in the northern Atlantic, has a number of active volca- 
 noes— ten or twelve. Sicily, on the south of Europe, has JEtna, 
 and the kingdom of Naples, Vesuvius. The islands north of Si- 
 cily and also the southern islands of the Grecian Archipeltigo, are 
 volcanic. Moriersays, that several mountains in Persia constantly 
 emit smoke. Humboldt supposes himself to have ascertained the 
 existence of a volcanic district in central Tartary. The peninsula 
 of Kamschatka appears to be in a great part the product of volca- 
 nic eruptions, and contains a number of active volcanoes, some of 
 them of immense size. The long chain of islands extending from 
 Kamschatka to New Holland, is of a similar character. The 
 Kurile Isles appear to consist of a train of volcanic mountains, of 
 which many are still subject to eruption The Japanese islands 
 contain ten occasionally active vents. The Polynesian Archi- 
 pelago owes its existence, to a great extent, to volcanic action. 
 The Philippine Islands, the Moluccas, Celebes, Java, Sumatra, 
 New Guinea, the Marianne Isles, one or two of the Friendly Is- 
 lands, and the Sandwich Islands, may be mentioned especially as 
 the seats of volcanic fires. 
 
 Very little is known of the interior of Africa, but most of the 
 islands by which it is surrounded are volcanic. Except on the 
 coast of Greenland, there are no active volcanoes on the eastern 
 side of North America, but they are not wanting on the western 
 side. Capt. Cook saw a volcano in lat. 61 °, anti two others of 
 immense size a little farther south. These belong to the system 
 extending from Kamschatka along the eastern side of Asia. Five 
 are reported to exist in California. Mexico has five. Three of 
 the West India Islands (St. Vincent, St. Lucia, and Gnadaloupe), 
 are active volcanoes; and the long chain of the gigantic Andes 
 would seem to be almost one continued volcano, so numerous are 
 the volcanic peaks. These statements will be sufficient to show 
 the extent to which the causes of the activity of volcanoes are 
 distributed through the crust of the globe. 
 
 2. When these fires have once been kindled in the interior 
 of the earth, they continue to burn for ages, thereby affording 
 evidence that in the particular localities where they exist, the 
 causes of their activity are accumulated to an immense extent. 
 
 The magazine from which iEtna has been supplied for more 
 than two thousand years, is not yet exhausted, and what amount 
 of material that vast furnace is capable of consuming in a single 
 day, (if, as has been supposed, its eruptions are the effect of a 
 real combustion; he will best judge who has been upon the spot, 
 measured with his eye the height cf the mountain and the capacity 
 of the crater, and recollected that the latter has sometimes been 
 
VOLCANOES. 
 
 71 
 
 filled to the brim with liquid matter, so as to overflow. Of the 
 period during which the mountains of Asia, Africa, and America 
 have been volcanoes we know nothing. Mankind appear to have 
 been first civilized around the eastern shores of the Mediteranean. 
 
 ' There letters were invented — there first historians provided as is 
 said by the father of history, ft? t<* y ? itfittec »£ «r t* xt 6 "" 
 yimrett, — “that the glorious actions performed by illus- 
 trious men, should not be forgotten;” and in relating the ex- 
 ploits of men, they furnish the earliest accounts that have come 
 | down to us (those contained in the sacred scriptures excepted) of 
 the changes that have occurred in the physical world. The only 
 volcanoes, therefore, whose history we can hope to know with 
 ] any considerable degree of exactness, are those which are near 
 1 the shores of the Mediteranean. 
 
 ./Etna is not mentioned as a burning mountain by Homer, and 
 it has thence been inferred that it was not a volcano in his time. 
 But it may have burnt in former ages, and been slumbering in 
 the days of Homer. The same is true of the Lipari Islands. 
 Pindar decribes .Etna as a cauldron of liquid fire; and Thucydides 
 informs us that the eruption which must have given rise to Pin- 
 dar’s allusion, was the second that had occured since the Greeks 
 had settled on the coasts of Sicily. 
 
 From the building of Rome til! the year 79 after Christ, a 
 period of more than eight centuries, Vesuvius appears to have 
 been in a state of profound repose, as no mention is made of any 
 eruption during the whole of that period; and the ancient writers 
 who refer to this mountain, always speak of its extraordinary 
 beauty and fertility. There were, however, appearances near its 
 summit, which left no doubt of its prior volcanic state, and the 
 cities in its vicinity were paved with the lava of ancient eruptions. 
 Vitruvius, who flourished under Augustus, says that Vesuvius had 
 formerly been burning, and had covered all the adjacent country 
 with its fires. Other classic authors hold similar language res- 
 pecting it. 
 
 The first great eruption on record, took place in the time of 
 I Titus, in the year 79, and buried the towns of Herculaneum, 
 | Pompeii, and Stabiae under showers of volcanic sand, stones and 
 | scoriae. After this Vesuvius continued a burning mountain, hav- 
 ; ing eruptions at intervals for more than a thousand jmars. The 
 ‘ fire then seemed to be tending to extinction, as there were but two 
 1 eruptions in four hundred^and ninety-two years, one in 1306, and 
 another which was inconsiderable in 1500. In 1631, woods were 
 growing on the sides of the crater, cattle were pastured there, and 
 it was the haunt of wild animals. For the last two hundred years 
 the eruptions have been frequent. Whilst Vesuvius has experi- 
 enced these vicissitudes, Stromboli, one of the Lipari Islands, 
 from the time when the earliest notices of it occur on the pages 
 of history, to the present day — though separated from it by an 
 
72 
 
 CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 interval of only one hundred and fifty miles, has never ceased to 
 burn. 
 
 3. Volcanoes appear to be less numerous in the •crust of the 
 earth at present , than they were in the most ancient times : 
 from whence it follows that the causes of their activity may 
 be either exhausted, or repressed and overcome. 
 
 Although the only burning mountains in Europe, the only ones 
 that have burnt within the memory of man, are in Iceland, about 
 the southern extremity of Italy, and on the Grecian Islands, it is 
 certain that the time has been, when the same phenomena were 
 exhibited in other parts of the continent, between Rome and 
 Florence, and on the northern side of the Po, in Italy; in Hun- 
 gary, on both sides of the Rhine above Cologne, in the southern 
 part of France, and the eastern part of Spain. The appearances 
 of the mountains in these countries taken in connexion with the 
 nature of the substances lying round their bases, are such as to 
 leave no doubt as to their having once been t he seat of volcanic 
 fires. The figure of a volcanic mountain is altogether peculiar as 
 well as the material in most cases of which it is composed. 
 Wherever a mountain is found in the form of a truncated cone, 
 with a basin-shaped cavity upon its top, and beds of lava about 
 its base, we need find no difficulty, although it may never have 
 been known to emif either smoke or flame, in pronouncing re- 
 specting its origin. Eminences having this figure and the struc- 
 ture and composition of active volcanoes, occur in the countries 
 mentioned, as well as in other parts of the globe, in places remote 
 from what are now the seats of volcanic action. Where the vol- 
 canic form is wanting, the substances lying upon the surface often 
 approach so nearly in their character to lava and the other pro- 
 ducts of burning mountains, as to warrant the belief that they had 
 a similar origin, and were poured in a melted state from the inte- 
 rior of the earth. 
 
 4. Volcanoes are not dispersed irregularly over the surface 
 of the globe, but arranged in systems or clusters, the members 
 X which are commonly situated along a line either straight 
 or moderately curved, suggesting the idea of their being placed 
 over a rent or fissure in the crust of the earth. Nearly all the 
 known active volcanoes are on islands or in the immediate 
 neighborhood of the sea. Whether the same was once true of 
 tuch as are now extinct we cannot tell, by reason of the creat 
 changes that have taken place, in the relative positions of the 
 land and water. 
 
 5. The following statements will serve to convey a more inti- 
 mate and accurate knowledge of the nature, modes, and effects of 
 volcanic action. 
 
 Volcanoes are found to present three principal sorts of phase 
 or peculiarity of character. 1. Some are remarkably uniform in 
 all the phenomena they exhibit. The amount of their activity 
 is the same, and it is always exerted in the same way. Stromboli 
 
VOLCANOES. 
 
 73 
 
 an example of this kind. 2. A second class comprises such as 
 constantly give evidence of their volcanic character by a cloud of 
 smoke resting upon their top, and occasionally burst out with 
 greater violence. 3. Others appear sometimes to be altogether 
 < extinct, then rage with great fury for a while and afterwards sink 
 down again into repose. Of the last two classes which' are much 
 more common than the first, Altna and Vesuvius may be cited 
 as tolerable examples. This occasional awakening of the volcanic 
 fires from either partial or absolute repose, is called an eruption. 
 
 The great regularity of the volcanic action at Stromboli, to- 
 gether with the comparative minuteness of the scale on which the 
 ■ phenomena are there exhibited, admits of our approaching very 
 i near to the centre of activity, and observing the changes that take 
 place. The crater itself is also commanded in such a way by a 
 neighbouring eminence that the spectator can look directly down 
 to its bottom. It is seen to contain a quantity of melted lava at 
 a brilliant white heat, which is continually rising and falling. 
 When, at its maximum elevation, one or two enormous bubbles 
 form upon its surface, swell rapidly, and finally explode with a 
 loud detonation. A shower of liquid lava is thrown into the air, 
 which cooling there, falls in the form of scoriae. The surface 
 of the lava is depressed about twenty feet, but rises again in a 
 few minutes, in consequence of the formation of new bubbles, 
 which explode in the same way. The elastic fluid by the expan- 
 sion of which the bubbles are created, appears to be simply steam. 
 
 There is reason to believe that the nature of volcanic action in 
 other parts of the world, does not differ greatly from what it is 
 at Stromboli; except that in the case of this crater, the lava being 
 constantly in a melted state, it offers but little resistance to the 
 elastic fluid that escapes through it; whereas in other cases its 
 passage is so obstructed as to create the most violent convulsions. 
 It is very evident that the results must be widely different when 
 there is a free communication between the centre of volcanic 
 action and the external air; and where a volcano breaks out for 
 | the first time through the solid strata of the globe, or an ancient 
 | rent that has been obstructed and obliterated by masses of lava 
 j that have partly cooled and become consolidated within it, and 
 | partly fallen into it from the neighbouring heights, is opened 
 ] anew. 
 
 j The indications of an approaching eruption from a dormant 
 volcano, are, a commencement and gradual increase of smoke from 
 the crater. Tremendous subterranean explosions like the firing 
 of artillery, succeed, with tremors of the earth more or less 
 violent. Often, it is said, the state of the atmosphere assumes 
 a peculiar character, there being in it an unusual closeness, stiff- 
 ness, and pressure. Springs disappear, wells are dried up and 
 there is often a splitting and heaving of the strata in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the volcano. The eruption generally commences 
 with one tremendous burst, which shakes the moutain to its 
 
74 
 
 CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 foundations. Sometimes a large part of the mountain disappears 
 at once, being either blown into the air, or engulfed in an abys# 
 beneath. The beds of lava that have obstructed the vent are' 
 broken up by the expansive force of the elastic fluid that is strug- 4 
 gling to escape, and projected to a great height above the crater. 
 The steam that rises is collected into a cloud, which overhangs 
 the mountain, and condensed into rain, deluging the circumjacent 
 country. It is highly charged with electricity. Vivid, violent 
 flashes of lightning dart from it, and frequently occasion mischief.^ 
 The fragments of scoriae that are thrown into the air, being shat- 
 tered by their explosion, and fall, and comminuted by their 
 mutual friction, are reduced at length to a fine powder, which 
 mixing with the watery vapour, adds to the Slackness of the 
 cloud that overhangs the mountain, and either descends under the 
 form of volcanic ashes upon the neighbouring country, oris car? 
 ried to a distance by the winds. This substance is most abundant 
 towards the close of the eruption, and frequently collects ip large 
 quantities in the crater so as to go far towards filling up and ob- 
 literating it. In the meantime the liquid lava urged on by the 
 vapour that is struggling for vent, either boils over the edge of 
 the crater, or finds a passage lower down, through the side of the 
 mountain. \ll the phenomena become gradually less remarkable 
 and violent, and the eruptions after having continued for a num- 
 ber of weeks or months cease altogether. It is observed that 
 when the lava flows freely the tremors of the earth and the explo- 
 sions become less frequent. 
 
 40 . Before proceeding to the causes of the phenomena just de- 
 scribed , it will be of advantage to notice certain others that are near- 
 ly related to them, so far as respects their origin, though they differ 
 w'idely in their effects. There are strong reasons for believing 
 that volcanoes and earthquakes proceed from a common cause, 
 whoseoperations are so modified by the diversity of the circumstan- 
 ces under which they occur, as to produce the observed variety 
 of result. 
 
 Humboldt giving an account of the earthquake which shook, 
 but without injuring, the city of Cumana, during his visit there, 
 well describes the sensations of the man who feels the earth agi- 
 tated beneath his feet for the first time. 
 
 “From our infancy the idea of certain contrasts, fixes itself in 
 “our minds; water appears to us an element that moves, earth a 
 “motionless and inert mass. These ideas are the effect of daily 
 “ experience, they are connected with everything that is trans- 
 “mitted to us by the senses. When a shock is felt — when the 
 “earth is shaken on her old foundations which we had deemed 
 ‘‘so stable, one instant is sufficient to destroy long illusions. It 
 “is like awakening from a dream, but a painful awakening. V r e 
 “ feel that we have been deceived by the apparent calm of nature; 
 “we become attentive to the least noise, we mistrust for the first 
 “ time asoil on which we had so long placed our foot with con- 
 
earthquakes. 
 
 75 
 
 •^fidence. If the shocks be repeated, if they become frequent 
 '‘‘daring several successive days, the uncertainty quickly disap- 
 , “ pears. I did not at this time imagine that after a lung abode in 
 
 “the table lands of Quito, and the coasts of Peru, I should become 
 “ almost as familiar with the abrupt movements of the ground, 
 , as we are in Europe with the noise of thunder. We did not 
 
 t think of rising at night in the city of Quito, when subterraneous 
 
 .« rumblings, (bramidos) which seem always to come from the vol- 
 £i»»*‘cano of Pichincha, announced (two, three and sometimes seven 
 pv^Mor eight minutes beforehand) a shock. The carelessness of the 
 [:f ** inhabitants who recollect that for three centuries past their city 
 1 “has not been overwhelmed, communicates itself easily to the 
 j> “least intrepid traveller. 1 ” 
 
 \ ' The immediate forerunner of an earthquake is a loud, harsh, sub- 
 
 terranean noise, resembling sometimes that which would be pro- 
 L. '-duced by a large number of waggons driven furiously along a 
 nigged pavement, and at other times the explosion of cannon. 
 -This is succeeded by' that shaking or trembling of the earth, from 
 •which the phenomenon derives its name, and by which buildings 
 are overthrown, burying too often the wretched inhabitants in 
 their ruins. Very frequently, however, the noise and shock are 
 simultaneous; and when this is not ihe case, the interval varies very 
 much, from a few seconds to a few minutes. The agitation does 
 not often last longer than a minute, but is sometimes repealed in 
 very quick succession. The motion is not a gradual uplifting, 
 but vibratory, and so rapid that it is dificult for a person who is 
 standing, to keep his feet. The shock that agitated the city of 
 Cumana, when Humboldt was there, was but a slight one, that 
 did no mischief, yet he tells us that he felt it very strongly, 
 though lying in a hammock, and that his companion, M. Bonp- 
 land, who was bending over a table examining plants, was almost 
 ‘ thrown upon the floor. An Englishman who was in Lisbon 
 when that city was nearly destroyed by an earthquake on the 1st 
 of November, 1755 , relates, that after the first shock he joined a 
 mixed multitude of persons, who had fled to the area in front of 
 one of the churches, and were on their knees imploring the pro- 
 ! tection of heaven; and that when the second shock came on, it 
 ; was with d.fficulty that he could keep upon his knees. 
 
 A quay which had just been built on the bank of the Tagus, of 
 rough marble, at a great expence, was swallowed up with the 
 I people who had collected upon it as a place of safety, and a great 
 number of boats and small vessels that lay near it, not a vestige 
 of any of which was ever seen afterwards. The water was as- 
 certained to be an hundred fathoms in depth, in the place where 
 it stood. The sea was not less affected than the land. Ships 
 that were sailing on the main ocean off the coast of Portugal, re- 
 ceived a shock as though they had struck upon a sand bank or 
 roc £ The water retired from the shore, leaving it bare to a con- 
 siderable distance, and then returning in a wave from twenty r to 
 
 I 
 
CAUSES OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGES. 
 
 
 :.,*jttxty feet io height, flowed over land lying beyond the reach of 
 the highest tides. In the case oj the quay there was an evident 
 subsidence of the land. Other recent examples of the same ef* 
 feet of earthquakes are recorded at Port Royal, in Jamaica, in the 
 Delta of the Indus, and at Puzzuoli, near Naples. The opposite 
 effect of elevation has been witnessed at Puzzuoli, and on the 
 coast of Chili, near Valparaiso. This double agency of earth- 
 quakes in producing a movement botli upwards and downwards, 
 is a fact of great importance in the science of geology. 
 
 The effects of an earthquake are seldom confined to the spot 
 where the greatest force is exerted. That which destroyed Lis- 
 bon was fell to the extremities of the continent of Europe. The 
 movement of the earth in this instance is said to have been undu- 
 latory, and the undulation to have travelled at the rate of twenty 
 miles in a minute. >Where no shock was experienced the water 
 of springs, lakes, and rivers was strangely affected, becoming tur- 
 bid and overflowing its banks without any apparent cause. Along 
 the nothern const of Africa the effects were hardly less disastrous 
 than in Portugal itself. 
 
 Having stated some of the more remarkable phenomena of both 
 volcanoes and earthquakes, we are prepared to observe that there 
 is such a connexion between the Uvo that we shall be safe in re- 
 ferring them to the same common cause. It might perhaps be 
 sufficient to state in proof of this that those counties in which there 
 are burning mountains, are beyond all others vexed by earthquakes. 
 Southern Italy and Chili, may be cited as examples. In the pro- 
 vince of Calabria, not less than nine hundred and forty-nine distinct 
 shocks were felt in a single year — 1783. The Atlantic States 
 being far emoved from the seat of any active volcano are seldom 
 visited bv these terrible movements of the stony strata of the 
 globe. But. we have more direct and positive evidence of the 
 connexion between earthquakes and volcanoes. It has beenglrea- 
 dy stated that an eruption of a volcano, that has been for soaae time 
 dormant is commonly attended by convulsionsin thecountryaround 
 it. 1 1 appears farther that there is a subterraneous communication 
 and sympathy not only between different districts of a country con- 
 tigous to the same volcano, but also between craters that are far 
 distant from each other, so that an eruption in one part of the 
 globe will be attended by disturbances in a region many miles, 
 and sometimes many degrees distant. “The volcano of Pasto in 
 South America, uninterruptedly vomited a high column of smoke 
 during three months of the year 1797, and this column disappeared 
 at the very moment when at the distance of nearly three hundred 
 miles the great earthquake of Riobamba, and the mud eruption 
 of the Moya, killed from thirty to forty thousand Indians. The 
 sudden appearance of a new island, thrown up by volcanic fires, 
 amongst the Azores, on the 30th of January 1811, was the fore- 
 runner of those dreadful shocks which further to the west shook 
 almost uninterruptedly from the month of May 1811, to that of 
 
 Vi?; j 
 
 
0* THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF VOLCANOES &C. 77 
 
 * \ 
 
 Jttne.1813 — first the West India Islands, afterwards the valliesof 
 the Ohio and the Mississippi, and at last the opposite coast of 
 Venezuela. Thirty days after the complete destruction of the town 
 of Caraccas, the eruption of the volcano on the island of St. Vin- 
 cent took place. At the same moment when this explosion hap- 
 pened, on the 30th of April, a subterranean noise was heard 
 * throughout a country of nearly fifty thousand square miles in ex- 
 ‘ tent.” 
 
 OF TIIE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF VOLCANOES 
 AND EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 41. We come now to the most difficult part of this subject, the 
 task of accounting for the phenomena of volcanoes and earth- 
 quakes. How is that heat which fuses the rocks generated in the 
 bowels of the earth, and how does it operate in shaking the solid 
 globe? Werner held that the seat of volcanic fires is the 
 coal formation ; a secondary stratum. But the volcanoes of 
 South America, have their seat beneath the primitive rocks. 
 Those cf Auvergne, in France, have forced their way through 
 a bed of granite. The showers of red hot stones that are 
 projected from the craters of burning mountains during an erup- 
 tion, and the cloud highly charged with electricity that over- 
 hangs them, render it impossible to approach them when in their 
 ■ highest state of activity, for the purpose of studying attentively 
 and accurately the changes that are going on. Nor does the mat- 
 ter that is thrown outafford us much information. Sulphur either 
 free or in some of its combinations appears to be a constant pro- 
 duct of all volcanoes. In the crater of Vesuvius there is ihe smell 
 of burnt bitumen but not in that of Stromboli. Muriatic acid may 
 also be detected, though not in general in any considerable quan- 
 tity, in the vapours escaping during an eruption. Silica consti- 
 tUte^Bout one half of the substance of lava ; the rest is alumine, 
 magnesia, J lime, and iron. 
 
 But the first three substances, sulphur, bitumen, and muriatic 
 ; acid are present in too small quantity to admit of our attributing 
 i to them the tremendous convulsions that accompany intense vol- 
 canic action. Carbonic acid is disengaged from the fissures and 
 saturates the water of the springs of a volcanic district, nor does 
 1 his effect cease for many ages after the fire is extinct. In what 
 quantity it may be given out from the crater during an eruption, 
 has not been ascertained. When Sir Humphrey Davy, ascertain- 
 ed that the bases of the alkalis and earths are metallic, and that they 
 take fire when brought into contact with water, the attention of 
 philosophers was directed to them, as probably the agents by 
 which the phenomena of volcanoes are produced : but their ex- 
 treme levity is one objection to them, nor does the composition 
 of lava accord with this idea. Silicon does not, like potassium 
 and sodium, decompose water by the abstraction of its oxygen 
 
78 THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OP VOLCAWOE9, &C. 
 
 when brought into contact with it. Some geologists appear still 
 to believe that volcanic action is produced by the comhuslienof 
 some compound of sulphur and silicon, or of the bases of the alkalis 
 and earths The circumstance that almost all the known active 
 volcanoes are situated near the shores of the sea is supposed to 
 favour the opinion, that water derived from that great reservoir is 
 the agent that determines their activiliy. A part of it is said to 
 be decomposed, its oxygen entering into combination with the 
 metallic base or silicon, whilst the hydrogen uniting with the sul- 
 phur passes off under the form of sulphuretted hydrogen. The 
 rest of the water being introduced upon substances already in a 
 state of intense ignition, is said to be converted into vapour and 
 under that form, and at a very elevated temperature to exert the 
 immense explosive force by which fragments of rocks are throwp 
 to a vast height into the air. 
 
 Two new theories of volcanic action have been proposed with- 
 in a few years, one by Mr. Poulett Scrope, secretary of the Lon- 
 don Geological Society, and the other by M. Cordier, of the Paris 
 Academy of Sciences. They both start with the assumption that 
 the earth was originally a melted mass, of which the exterior 
 crust has parted with its caloric by radiation, and been thus con- 
 verted into a rock, whilst the great central portion retains its tem- 
 perature and is now in a liquid state. The merits of this hypoth- 
 esis we will presently consider. It is a circumstance somewhat 
 remarkable, that of these two theories, one attributes the phenom- 
 ena of volcanoes to the gradual heating, and the other to th.e grad- 
 ual cooling of that crust of the earth which separates the interior 
 liquid mass from the exterior portion, which has already by part- 
 ing with its heat been converted into a bed of rock. 
 
 Scrope, supposes that the temperature of the central nucleus is 
 gradually propagated to the strata adjacent to it, which consist 
 of the materials of lava holding a quantity of water in a state of 
 intimate combination, to which their fluidity is owing. *By re- 
 ceiving an accession of heat from below, the elasticity of the wa- 
 ter is so much increased that it separates from the particles of fluid 
 rock or lava, and escapes through the solid strata lying above, 
 overturning them, rending them to pieces and throwing them in- 
 to the air and thus producing the most terrible of the phenomena 
 of volcanoes and earthquakes. At the same time a quantity of the 
 lava urged onward by the elastic vapour that is struggling to es- 
 cape is forced out of the aperture already formed. The separa- 
 tion of the steam and flow of the lava continue, until the tempera- 
 ture of the focus of activity is so far diminished by the absorption 
 of caloric during the conversion of the water into vapour, and the 
 liquidity of the lava by parting with the water, on the presence 
 of which that liquidity depends, that the causes tending to main- 
 tain the activity of the volcanic action, and those by which it is 
 repressed, are in equilibrium, when the eruption ceases. In his 
 view therefore a volcanic eruption is produced simply by the 
 
79 
 
 
 * 
 
 i , 
 
 , — - - - : -v -.' / • ' 
 
 * * “ ’ -^V’. 
 
 t r i • v .■ 
 
 CAUSES OF GSOlOGXCL' CHANGES. 
 
 ^bjnllttftrh of a compound liquid, consisting of water and lava, and 
 I7 BoiriOlvhat analogous in its constitution therefore, to honey, paste, 
 
 ' tor pjttd and water, in which it is well known that ebullition may 
 b^oxcited. Scrope, supposes it to be evident from the appearan- 
 /. ces presented by the lava of Vesuvius at the instant when it issues 
 ' 7 ^>nf-lfee 1 mountain’s side and afterwards, that it is a substance 
 W;x:orn posed —that it is not actually in a state of fusion but ren- 
 dered liquid by water, which serves as a vehicle for the earthy 
 particles which remain after its escape. The liquidity of lava is 
 Said to be always imperfect, never exceeding that of honey and 
 .generally such as to require the exertion of a considerable force 
 tofhrust a slick or blunt rod into it. At the instant of its emis- 
 sion’dt.has a brilliant white heat, a considerable quantity of va- 
 pqur is emitted from it and it consolidates almost instantly. The 
 superficial crust thus formed, cracks and splits in all directions, and 
 Jfresh'.' vapours escape from the crevices. Scrope states also that 
 ;• tfiere)is no evidence of the occurrence of a real combustion in the 
 crater of a volcano ; and that what are commonly described ns 
 flames are in fact jets of red hot sand and scoriae. A further illu- 
 sion is frequently produced by the brilliant light often given out 
 by reflection, from the cloud, that overhangs the mountain. 
 •'Cfcjjstead of supposing that there is gradual accession of heat to 
 the'strata lying just within the consolidated crust of the globe, 
 M- Cordier, represents them as parting with their caloric by slow 
 communication to the beds of rock lying above them ; and eventu- 
 ally JP^jMuliation, into the regions of space. The consequence 
 w of thii^tefrigeration is, a contraction and diminution of the 
 j capacityi-of the crust or shell, in which the liquid central nucleus 
 . -is enveloped ; by which a part of the matter of which it is com- 
 * posed, is forced out through a few small openings (somewhat in 
 'the way in which we squeeze the juice out of an orange); pro- 
 ducingthe phenomena of earthquakes and volcanoes, 
 i -*? When -’two theories are proposed to us at the same time, nei- 
 j ther of which has our very hearty approbation, and which are 
 | altogether at variance with each other, in regard to the principles 
 jonTvhich they are founded; it is sometimes a matter of conve- 
 j jnience, that there are two of them, as it will be the less neces- 
 1 sary to enter upon a minute examination and discussion of the 
 ! merits’ of^either. It may be enough to array them in opposition 
 jto each other- If, however, we be called upon to state which of 
 ’the theories just exhibited, is the least liable to objection, and 
 capable of being supported by the strongest arguments, the pre- 
 ference seems due to that of Cordier. Mr. Scrope supposes — 
 the earth to have been originally a melted mass, of which the 
 temperature of the exterior crust was so far depressed, that it was 
 consolidated into a rock, and that this very same crust is now’ re- 
 ceivlhgheat fromjthe interior nucleus, by which it is again heated 
 to whiteness. There are, perhaps, no experiments by which the 
 changes here supposed, are proved to be impossible, but they 
 
 ■A?,. / 
 
 Hi* 
 
 
60 CHANGES PRODUCED BY VOLCANOES AND _EABTHQUAX"B3. ' 
 
 & 
 
 seem hardly necessary. It may be regarded alrpost .aa 
 evident truth, that a hot body abandoned to itself, will part, ^ 
 its heat in such a way, that the temperature shall go on diminish- , 
 ing, according to some regular law, from the exterior surfing A 
 towards the centre, and that every individual particle, wherey^r 
 it may be situated, will grow constantly colder, If this be a cor- 
 rect statement of the changes that would take place, the theory 
 of Scrope is unquestionably erroneous. ’ .. 
 
 The subject of volcanoes is one, in regard to which future ages a'j;e 
 destined to have more accurate knowledge, and more enlightened 
 views than we possess at present. The circumstances which at- 
 tend an eruption, and the order in which the phenomena succeed 
 each other, are calculated to produce the belief, that volcanic ac- f. 
 .tion is the result of chemical changes of some kind taking plac^. 
 .within the crust of the earth ; different masses of the substance^/ 
 that act upon each other, being from time to time brought -into 
 contact, and the combustion in this way renewed and kept up 
 from age to age, but the matter thrown out is not, as yve. have 
 already seen, of a nature to warrant our adhering very obsti- 
 nately to this opinion. If this view of, the subject shall .be 
 deemed inadmissible, and the hypothesis of a central fire en>-' 
 braced, we shall perhaps find no better refuge from the barrass-'. 
 ing inquietudes of doubt and scepticism, than in the doctrines of 
 Cordier. Some geologists are inclined to combine the two, and 
 to add to the agencies supposed by them, that of water, intro-’ 
 duced upon the interior heated mass. ■ 
 
 ' ■hr,, 
 
 OF THE CHANGES PRODUCED BY VOLCANOES AND 
 
 EARTHQUAKES. ■ • ‘‘S 4 ’ 
 
 ♦ - V / 
 
 , -V i;>? '14 
 
 42. — 1. The permanent visible effects produced by volcanoes, * 
 consist in an elevation of the surface of the earth around fhevr 
 bases, which is covered with a bed of volcanic ashes and 60crjse, 
 or with a sheet of lava; and a change in the altitude or. form'of 
 the mountain itself, which is their seat. *■-, ' 
 
 The ashes that were thrown out from the mountain 'Tomboro, 
 on the island of Sumbawa, in the East Indies, in April, 1815, f- 
 were so abundant as to crush the roofs of houses on which they' 
 fell, at the distance of forty miles, and westward of Sumatra, the . 
 floating mass was two feet in thickness and several mUes4n,ex- 
 tent. The stream of lava that issued from Skaptar . Jokffl, in 
 Iceland, in 1783, was ninety miles in length, at ^ome points from 
 twelve to fifteen miles in breadth, and one hundred Aad-io'rn ar- 
 row defiles, six hundred feet in depth. Vesuvius;- was ^re- 
 duced in height about eight hundred feet, by the eruption of 
 1822. iEtna lias experienced a similar, though not as great a re-' 
 duction of its elevation, and been afterwards built up again ! - The 
 plain of Malpais, in the western part of Mexico, was converted 
 into a volcano (Jorullo) 1600 feet in height, on the night of 
 
HISTORY OF TIIE EARTH. 
 
 81 
 
 September 20th, 1759 . In 1772 the cone of Papandayang, one 
 of the lolliest volcanoes on the island of Java fell in ; a tract six- 
 teen miles long by six miles broad was swallowed up, and the 
 height of the mountain reduced from nine thousand to about five 
 thousand feet. 
 
 2. Until very recently, earthquakes were regarded with that 
 feeling of interest which is awakened by dread anil terror, al- 
 most exclusively, and held entitled to notice on account of their 
 devastations ; the cities laid in ruins and the lives destroyed by 
 them. It is only incidentally that mention is made by the older 
 writers of the permanent changes produced by them in the condi- 
 tion of the earth itself. 
 
 In June 1819 , the country lying about the mouth of the river 
 Indus was visited by a violent earthquake. The usual effects 
 were seen in the demolition of buildings, especially such as were 
 built of stone, and a tract of considerable extent sunk several feet. 
 The fort and village of Sindru, standing on the eastern branch of 
 the river were so much depressed, that only the tops of the house’s 
 and wall were visible above the water that immediately (lowed 
 in from the sea. At the same time another tract of fifty miles 
 in length and sixteen in breadth, running past the village at the 
 distance of five and a half miles, was elevated into a ridge about 
 ten feet in height. In November 1S22, a shock which agitated 
 the whole of Chili, raised the line of coast, nor th and south of 
 Valparaiso, through a distance of more than one hundred miles, 
 three or four feet, and in the interior of the country the average 
 amount of elevation appeal's to have been still greater. The 
 beach of the sea was left bare, and shell fish which adhered to the 
 rocks perished. 
 
 HISTORY OF TIIE EARTH. 
 
 43 . Prop. I. The earth was in the beginning a fluid, or 
 semifluid mu$s. 
 
 The earth is not a perfect sphere. Its equatorial exceeds its 
 polar diameter hy about twenty-six miles. (Sec. G.) This is true 
 not only of the terraqueous globe as it exists in oceans, islands 
 and continents, but of the great rocky skeleton of the earth. The 
 surface of the ground in every country conforms with slight ine- 
 qualities to the spheroidal figure which would be assumed hy a 
 fluid body having the mean density of the earth and revolving 
 with the safne velocity. As the earth has therefore the form 
 which the joint action of gravity and of the centrifugal force pro- 
 duced by its diurnal revolution would impress upon it ; we infer 
 that its form is the result of the joint action of those forces : and 
 as the energy with which it would assume a spheroidal figure is not 
 very considerable, we infer that there could have been in the begin- 
 ning no rocks of great thickness and solidity to oppose and prevent a 
 
 8 
 
82 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 free motion of its different parts, or that it was as stated in the 
 proposition a fluid or semifluid mass. -• 
 
 With regard to the cause of its fluidity two opinions have been 
 entertained, one that the solid matter of which it is in part com- 
 posed was.originally dissolved in water (Sec. 14) ; the other that 
 it-was fused by an intense heat, with which it parted by radiation, 
 until a crust formed upon its surface; its temperature being gradu- 
 ally reduced until it was fitted to become the abode of organized - 
 and living beings, and that its interior is still a mass of liquid . 
 fire. (Sec. 36.) 
 
 The first of these hypotheses is now utterly abandoned. The 
 water of the existing oceans is inadequate to effect the solution 
 of a thousandth part of the matter constituting the strata of 
 the globe. Between the two parts of the second there is a 
 very intimate connexion. If the primeval liquidity of what is 
 now a body of earth and solid rock was produced by intense heat, 
 we may conclude that a high temperature still prevails in its in- 
 terior parts ; if we have evidence of the existence of such tem- 
 perature, it is best accounted for by supposing it to be the 
 remains of what was once common to the whole mass. Those 
 facts and arguments therefore which tend to establish the truth 
 of one of the parts of this hypothesis, bear strongly, though in- 
 directly upon that of the other. 
 
 44. Of the original temperature of the earth. l.Thewholeof '. •=> 
 the vast expanse, stretching out on every side of us to a distance of . 
 which the human mind can with difficulty, if at all, conceive, is 
 thickly scattered over with bodies which from the light that con- 
 stantly emanates from them, we are warranted in believing are . . • 
 at this moment, intensely heated. The earth being one of this 
 vast collection of bodies that are floating in the regions of space, '■*. 
 the idea is very naturally suggested that it may once have resem- 
 bled them in every respect, in temperature as well as in figure 
 and other characters ; that the first act of Omnipotence when the 
 work of creation began, was, to strew the fields of ether with 
 burning orbs. The reason why the earth should differ from most 
 of the others now, is apparent. Its diminutive size is such as to 
 admit of its having parted with its excess of caloric by radiation, 
 whilst they in consequence of their greater magnitude continue 
 to glow. 
 
 2. The figure of the earth being that which would be assumed -M.. 
 by a liquid having the same density and revolving with the same T 
 velocity, it is inferred as we have just seen, that it was originally 
 fluid. For producing this condition of the now solid material of 
 the earth’s crust, it is necessary to suppose the existence of an 
 agent, or of agents, no longer found upon its surface. Wer- • ro- 
 ller supposed the agent to have been water; there is at least an 
 equal probability that it was heat or fire. The excess of water — T 
 required for the solution of the existing continents, over that of 
 the present ocean, must have been annihilated.' Its disappearance 
 
 
 
ORIGINAL TEMPERATURE OT THE EARTH. 
 
 83 
 
 can be accounted for in no other way. Heat may escape by 
 radiation. From the figure of the earth therefore, we infer not 
 only that it was originally fluid, but that its fluidity was produced 
 by fusion,. 
 
 3. NThe same condition of things is further indicated by the 
 crystalline structure exhibited by tbe primitive rocks and especial- 
 ly by granite. The constitution of the' whole mass of some of these 
 rocks, as (granite and gneiss,) and crystals imbedded in others, (as 
 mica slate,) prove that at some time previous to their consolida- 
 tion, the particles of which they are composed enjoyed freedom 
 
 . of motion, and liberty to arrange themselves in obedience to the 
 laws by which their mutual affinities are regulated and governed, 
 s At the points where granite comes into contact with gneiss, mica 
 | slate, clay slate, or another mass of granite, it is often seen to 
 send out veins into those rocks, demonstrating that it is itself of 
 more recent origin; that the)', having been first consolidated, were 
 rent and broken by some of the forces that are active in the crust 
 of the globe, and the granitic material of the vein injected in a melt- 
 ed state into the fissure that was thus formed. (Sec. 18.) In the 
 liquidity of the granite which constitutes a vein, is involved that 
 of the mass from which it issues, and of which it is a branch, and 
 in the formation of the granite of a vein by cooling from, a state of 
 igneous fusion, a similar origin of this rock wherever it is found. 
 But as we have at present upon the earth no source of heat of 
 sufficient power to melt the mountain ranges of granite that tra- 
 verse the surface of the globe, we infer that their former fluidity 
 depended upon their original temperature. 
 
 4. The organic remains thatare found imbedded in the seconda- 
 ry and tertiary strata, prove that the higher latitudes at least, were 
 once much warmer than at the present day ; that a climate ap- 
 proaching to that of the equatorial regions, or perhaps even hotter 
 than what now obtains in any part of the world, prevailed with- 
 in the polar circles. The coal beds have evidently proceeded 
 from the vegetation of.the most ancient times. Butin the shales 
 
 j that accompany them, we find sometimes the plants themselves 
 ! imbedded, and sometimes merely the impressions they left be- 
 ] hind them upon the clay that has since been hardened into shale, 
 
 | whilst it was yet in a soft and yielding state. But these plants 
 
 ( appear to have been altogether different from those now inhabit- 
 
 I ing the countries in which the mines lie, and to have approach- 
 i ed in their forms and mode of growth the arborescent ferns and 
 other vegetables of tropical climates. In the Isle of Sheppy at 
 the mouth of the Thames, the fruit or geed vessels of not less 
 than 700 species of vegetables have been discovered, very few of 
 which agree with any that are known to be now produced upon 
 the earth, and the greater part resemble more nearly in their form 
 and mode of growth those that inhabit the torrid, than such as 
 belong to the temperate zone. The remains bf animals of those 
 races which live only in the hottest climates, (the elephant, rhi- 
 
84 
 
 BISTOBY OF THE EABTH. 
 
 noceros, hippopotamus, tapir, &c.,) that are from time to time 
 found enveloped in the soil of northern countries, also point to 
 similar conclusions in regard to the mean temperature in very 
 ancient times of the regions in which they occur. The animal 
 and vegetable fossils brought by Capt. Parry from Melville Is- 
 land, in latitude 75°, bear an intimate resemblance to those ofEng- 
 land and the United States. 
 
 At the present day, the climate of every part of the earth’s sur- 
 face is determined principally by its latitude. The facts just 
 stated, indicateadiflerentcondition of things at the period whenthe 
 secondary and tertiary strata were deposited ; that there was then 
 a nearer approach to uniformity of temperature in all parts of the 
 world; such as could have been derived only from a common 
 focus or source of heat beneath the surface ; the remains of that 
 by which the solid rocks were once held in a state of fusion. 
 
 45. Of the present temperature of the interior parts of the 
 earth. — Observations made in mines in the western part of Eu- 
 rope and in Mexico, indicate an increase of temperature as we de- 
 scend. When this fact was first announced, the greater heat 
 found in the deeper strata was attributed to other causes, and es- 
 pecially to chemical changes proceeding there, such as the con- 
 version of the metallic sulphurets into sulphates, the animal 
 warmth given out by the workmen, the combustion of numer- 
 ous lamps and candles employed in lighting the mine, and of 
 gunpowder'used in blasting the rocks, — also to the compression of 
 the air produced by the lengthening of the atmospheric column — 
 rather than to a permanent elevation of temperature in the cen- 
 tral mass of the globe. M. Cordier collected and compared the 
 results obtained by preceding observers, and added others, the 
 fruit of his own researches. In these last also, such precautions 
 were taken to avoid the causes of error which were supposed to 
 have vitiated the earlier experiments, that it is very difficult to 
 avoid the conclusions to which they seem to lead. 
 
 The tin and copper mines of Cornwall have been wrought to 
 a considerable depth beneath the level of the sea. They are drain- 
 ed through an adit or tunnel, commencing at that level, upon the 
 coast, and carried into the heart of the mining district Into this 
 all th* water that collects in the mine, whether flowing from the 
 higher parts, or raised by the steam engine from greater depths, 
 is conveyed along the channels cut for the purpose, and finally 
 discharged at the mouth of the adit at the rate of 1680 cubic feet 
 per minute, or 287,000 hogsheads per day. Its temperature at 
 this point is 19 degrees above the mean temperature of the air 
 and earth at the surface. It is calculated that the heat created by 
 the respiration of the workmen, by the combustion of lamps and 
 candles and other caused, would not be sufficient to raise the tem- 
 perature of such a mass of water more than a single degree. 
 
 Results corresponding to these have been obtained wherever 
 observations have been made in mines of considerable depth ; by 
 
TEMPERATURE OF THE INTERIOR. 
 
 85 
 
 Cordier in the coal mines of the south, the middle, and the north' 
 of France, by De Trebra in Saxony, Humboldt in Mexico, and 
 Daubuisson in Saxony and Britanny. Coal mines hare one ad- 
 vantage over every other for this kind of investigation. The 
 excavations being carried rapidly forward, there is little oppor- 
 tunity for the foreign sources of heat just mentioned, to operate, 
 so that the temperature at the point where the coal is being 
 taken, represents truly, that of the part of the earth’s crust in 
 which it lies. 
 
 In the deepest coal mine in Great Britain, at a point 1584 feet 
 below the level of the ground, and 1500 beneath the level of the 
 sea, the thermometer on the 15th of Nov. 1834, stood at 68° in 
 the air close to the coal, and at 7 1°2. when left in a hole bored in- 
 to the coal, for a week, the temperature of the day of observation 
 being 49° and the mean temperature of the surface, 47 ° 6 . 
 
 The rate of increase is different at different places, depending 
 as is supposed upon the greater or less conducting power of the 
 strata and other unknown causes. One degree of Fahrenheit for 
 45 feet of descent may be assumed as an approximation to an 
 (Tverage. At this rale, the temperature of boiling water (212°) 
 will be found 6795 feet, or somewhat less than a mile and one- 
 third beneath the surface at Chapel Hill, and a heat intense 
 enough to fuse the rocks at a depth of between 50 and CO miles. 
 We have no data for forming even a probable conjecture respect- 
 ing the temperature of the centre. If the interior is an homoge- 
 neous fluid, it is obvious that uniformity of temperature would be 
 produced by the currents that would be established in it. If it is 
 composed of metals, ranged in the order of their specific gravi- 
 ties, no certain inferences can be drawn from observations made 
 in the exterior crust. 
 
 2. When the surface of the earth is occupied by tertiary de- 
 posits, a supply of good water, is often not to be had at moderate 
 depths, and it becomes necessary to bore through the upper strata, 
 which either yield no water at all, or such as is unfit for use, by 
 reason of the quantity of salts of different kinds that it holds dis- 
 solved. These deposits are commonly arranged in successive 
 layers around the sides and over the bottom of a basin, which is 
 frequently of no great size or extent. When a stratum of pure 
 sand intervenes between two strata of clay, the former yielding 
 almost a free passage, whilst the latter are nearly impervious to 
 ^ water ; if a hole 3 or 4 inches in diameter be driven by boring, 
 from the surface, through the uppermost bed of clay, to some dis- 
 tance into the sand; and a casing of tin, copper, or lead introduced 
 to prevent the ingress of water from the strata that are penetrated, 
 
 _ an abundant supply of excellent water is often obtained. This is 
 raised by hydrostatic pressure, exerted around the sides of the 
 basin, to a greater or less height along the tube, sometimes to the 
 surface, and in many cases it is seen to overflow at the surface, 
 forming a copious and perennial spring. Havingbeen first known 
 
 8 * 
 
86 
 
 HISTOET OP THE EARTH. 
 
 and used in the province of Artois in France, (the ancient Arte- 
 sium) these have received the name of Artesian wells. 
 
 The water yielding stratum of sand has sometimes to be sought 
 at great depths, and in the course of the operations employed for 
 reaching it, evidence is obtained of the same general kind with 
 that afforded by mines, that the temperature increases as we de- 
 scend. Artesian wells are sometimes but more rarely obtained 
 among the secondary strata. 
 
 3. The hot springs which rise out of the earth in many parts of 
 the globe, but appear to be more numerous near the line ofjunction • 
 of the primitive rocks with the more recent strata, indicate that 
 the internal sources of heat are not confined to the neighborhood 
 of volcanic mountains or the mines of western Europe. Such 
 as are particularly remarkable for the quantity, or the tempera- 
 ture of their waters, have attracted attention, but it is only recent- 
 ly that their bearing upon the science of Geology has been seen, 
 and that they have become particular objects of interest and ob- 
 servation. Their peculiarities were formerly attributed to chemi- 
 cal changes of limited extent and influence, proceeding in the 
 strata from which they rise. But the volume of the water given 
 out by them in many instances, its temperature, and purity, in- 
 dicate rather a temperature elevated considerably above that of the 
 surface, extending through the whole mass of rocky strata in 
 which they have their origin. It is evident that this heat may be 
 derived by slow communication from an internal nucleus. If 
 hot springs shall be regarded as furnishing satisfactory indica- 
 tions of the existence of an interior source of heat, a very great 
 amount of evidence may be drawn from this quarter, since there 
 are few countries in which they have not already been discovered, 
 and it is probable if not certain, that a diligent search over the 
 whole earth would lead to the detection of many that are hither- 
 to unknown. The gas that issues along with the water of ho-t 
 springs is generally nitrogen. The warm springs of Buncomb 
 have a temperature of about 10-4 of Fahrenheit. 
 
 4. Some of the phenomena of earthquakes accord with the 
 idea that the crust of the earth is a mass of rock resting upon the 
 surface of a subjacent liquid. Such are, the vibratory motion in- 
 to which it is thrown, and the heaving of the ground resembling 
 the boiling of a fluid or the billows of a swelling sea that have 
 been observed in a number of instances. A person standing 
 upon a float of logs or a large piece of loose ice, will be agitated^ 
 somewhat in the same way as during an earthquake. This argu- 
 ment is not however of any great weight. A heavy carriage driven 
 rapidly over a pavement will shake the edifices in the neigh- 
 borhood. A considerable commotion in its interior, by whatever 
 cause produced, would perhaps be adequate to the production of 
 all the phenomena of earthquakes, even supposing the earth to be 
 solid throughout its whole extent. 
 
 5. Volcanoes will not as obstinately defy our attempts to aa- 
 
 / 
 
HYPOTHESIS OP LA PLACE. 
 
 87 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 Bign the causes of their activity, and state the modes of their ac- 
 tion, if we suppose the interior of the earth to be an intensely heated 
 and fluid mass. It is probable that if so constituted, a portion of 
 the melted matter will from time to time escape in consequence 
 of some change it undergoes. 
 
 46. The facts and arguments of the two preceding sections, 
 directed; those of the 44 th, to the proof of the more elevated tem- 
 perature of the surface of the globe in the most ancient times; 
 those of the 45th to the present condition of its interior mass, 
 furnish a good example of the difference that generally obtains 
 in the character of the evidence that is offered in the two great 
 branches of geological science. In positive geology the proof is 
 direct and simple. The thermometer indicates a constantly in- 
 creasing temperature as we descend into the earth. That We 
 may be qualified to appreciate the force and certainty of the evi- 
 dence on which the conclusions of theoretical geology are found- 
 ed, we must have studied the laws that regulate the organization 
 of living plants arid animals, and also of those races which are ex- 
 tinct and have left their remains behind them, and of the distri- 
 bution of both through the different climates of the globe: we 
 must also by long continued and often repeated examinations, 
 have become acquainted with the appearances they present, 
 whether at remote points or where they come into contact with 
 each other. To the mind thus furnished and prepared for these 
 investigations, the conclusions at which geologists have arrived in 
 the two branches of the science, will appear to be of nearly, if not 
 quite, equal safety and certainty. In the present instance, the 
 two, forming essential parts of the same theory, lend each other 
 a mutual support. 
 
 Astronomy has within the present century proposed to ascend to 
 a still earlier epoch in the earth’s history ; when the solar sys- 
 tem of which it is a part, was a hot and luminous vapour, re- 
 sembling in appearanee when viewed from a distance, the nebu- 
 lae that are still observed in some parts of the heavens. Under 
 this attenuated form, the matter of our system is conjectured to 
 have extended beyond the orbit of the planet Uranus, and to have 
 revolved upon an axis from west to east. As it parted with its heat 
 by radiation, it would be condensed, and every particle describ- 
 ing a smaller circle, that the amount of motion might remain 
 the same, the velocity must be continually accelerated. The cen- 
 trifugal force is supposed to have been so much increased, that 
 -at distant intervals, the matter of the planets separated from the 
 principal mass, each assuming a globular form, revolving on its 
 axis, and circulating at that distance from the centre of gravity of 
 the system at which the separation took place, and some in the 
 progress of their condensation, affording other or secondary plan- 
 ets in their turn. By means of this hypothesis, some remarka- 
 ble phenomena of the solar system are easily explained. 
 
88 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 4 7. Prop. II. The primitive rocks were first formed and 
 consolidated, and their consolidation took place before the ex- 
 istence of either plants or animals. 
 
 The primitive rocks underlie the others, and the rock or stra- 
 tum which rests upon another, must in general be the more recent 
 of the two. To this conclusion we must at length arrive what- 
 ever theory of the earth we adopt If its original liquidity was 
 produced by heat, there must in the first instance have been 
 formed upon the surface of the molten flood, a substratum or floor 
 for the deposits of succeeding times to rest upon. That crust of 
 consolidated matter is a crystalline primitive rock, and though parts 
 of it were afterwards broken and constituted the material for the 
 mechanical aggregates of a later period, yet is it true that the 
 most ancient transition stratum is of more recent origin than 
 that on which it reposes. By some geologists, gneiss and mica slate 
 are regaded as the most ancient of the rocks, as constituting the 
 original crust that was first of all spread over the surface of the 
 liquid mass. Beneath these a bed of granite was gradually pro- 
 duced by the radiation of heat into the surrounding space, and 
 above them in some instances, the transition and secondary strata. 
 Where granite appears as it frequently does, at the surface, and 
 at great elevations, upon the summits of mountains, it is not ne- 
 cessary to suppose that it assumed its form and was consolidated 
 in its present position. It may have existed as a rock beneath- 
 the general surface o( the globe, and been raised, either gradually 
 or during some great convulsion, to the position in which we 
 find it. 
 
 As no organic remains of any kind are imbedded in the prim- 
 itive rocks, we infer that they never contained any, and that they 
 were consolidated before either plants or animals existed, it being 
 improbable that if their consolidation was either coeval with or 
 posterior to the existence of organized beings, they would embrace 
 no evidences of this fact. It is possible indeed that the favorite 
 theory of some geologists is true, that organic remains once ex- 
 isted in the materials from which these rocks were formed, and 
 were destroyed by the action of fire or water during the fusion or 
 solution they must have undergone before assuming the forms 
 and characters they now exhibit, hut no appearances have been 
 observed which lend any degree of probability to this opinion, 
 and there is a considerable probability against it. Commencing 
 with the higher strata, the remains of every kind are numerous, ^ 
 'as we descend, their number gradually, though not uniformly, 
 diminishes, till in the transition class, we find only the remains 
 of zoophytes — a race occupying the lowest place in the scale of 
 living creatures. It was to be expected that this descending se- 
 ries would have a limit, where the traces of life whether animal 
 or vegetable should cease altogether. Such a limit we find in 
 the primitive rocks, and though it is possible that the strata in 
 which we find no traces whatever of life, once teemed with liv- 
 
TRANSITION AND SECONDARY STRATA. 
 
 89 
 
 ing beings which have been destroyed, it is much more proba- 
 ble that they assumed their present form before there was either 
 a plant or an animal to be imbedded in them. 
 
 48. Prop. III. The transition and secondary rocks which 
 are now found with their strata highly inclined, were deposit- 
 ed and consolidated in horizontal beds. 
 
 They bear an intimate resemblance to those accumulations of 
 fine clay, sand, and gravel, that are now found in the bottoms of 
 lakes and the estuaries of rivers. There are the same alternations 
 of coarse and fine materials, indefinitely repeated, and with- 
 out any approach to regularity. They are evidently made up 
 of wfhat was once a loose mass, destitute of cohesion, and which 
 by the .infiltration of siliceous, calcareous, or ferruginous matter 
 and by other causes has been converted into rocks. Such a mass 
 if placed upon a plane that is considerably inclined, will not ar- 
 range itself in beJs or layers parallel to the surface of the plane, 
 but will roll, sink, or slide down to its lowest point. In so doing 
 it will only obey the most general of all the laws that regulate 
 the material world, the law of gravity. 
 
 The case is particularly clear when very thin layers of shells 
 or pebbles are interposed between two adjacent strata. It would 
 in many instances, have been quite impossible for them to gain 
 the positions in which they are found, in any other way, than by 
 being strewed uniformly over an horizontal surface, and then 
 covered with a stratum of a different kind. These arguments 
 will not apply to all the transition and secondary strata : they 
 are applicable to the most of them ; and the rest will be found so 
 alternating with, or imbedded in those to which it does apply, that 
 whatever decision we pass upon the one class, we shall find our- 
 selves under the necessity of extending to the other. 
 
 49. Prop. IV. The secondary , transition , and in many 
 cases the primitive strata , have been shij'led from their origi- 
 nal positions into those ivhich they now occupy , by forces which 
 have operated since their consolidation. 
 
 This proposition follows as a necessary corollary from the two 
 preceding, and is introduced less with a view to a formal proof 
 of its truth, than to an enquiry respecting the nature and mode 
 of action of the forces by which the changes referred to in it have 
 been produced. If these strata were deposited and consolidated 
 in horizontal beds, and are now found sometimes almost in a ver- 
 tical position, it is plain that a force of some kind has been ap- 
 plied to them by which their situation has been changed. It 
 may have been the force of gravity, the substance which support- 
 ed one of their edges having been removed, and that edge left to 
 subside by its own weight ; or the other edge may have been 
 lifted up by a force acting from beneath. 
 
 A mill-pond which has been covered with a thick sheet of ice 
 during a cold night, and from which a part of the water has been 
 drained off, the next day, furnishes a good representation of the 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 appearance of the secondary strata especially, over the surface of 
 the earth. In places where the pond is deep and free from drift- 
 wood, the ice will subside regularly and uniformly along with 
 the wat^r, hut if there is an island any where in the pond; or a 
 large rock, or any thing of the kind, presents an obstacle to the 
 regular subsidence of the ice, it will be seen broken and reposing 
 upon the side of the rock or island, at a great variety of angles of 
 inclination. 
 
 This is theactual appearance of the secondary and transition strata. 
 Ata distance from any primitive mountain, as in the south-eastern 
 part of England, they are parallel to each other and nearly paral- 
 lel to the horizon. In the neighborhood and on the sides of the 
 Alps on the other hand, strata of the same kind ofrock occur in the 
 utmost confusion and disorder, deranged and contorted in every 
 direction and declining towards every quarter of the compass at 
 every angle. 
 
 The party which went out in the year 1819-20, under the 
 Qpmmand of Major Long, to explore the country west of the Mis- 
 sissippi, found a vast desert with a substratum of sandstone 
 stretching eastward from the Rocky Mountains through a dis- 
 tance of more than 400 miles. The strata which constitute this 
 formation of sandstone are sometimes nearly horizontal and 
 sometimes considerably inclined. Near the mountains they are 
 generally horizontal until we come to the very foot, where they 
 are suddenly elevated in vast tables, into a position approaching 
 the perpendicular. These appearances may be accounted for, 
 either on the supposition that the Rock}' Mountains retain their 
 primitive position, and that the whole body of the sandstone has 
 sunk down from the higher level which it once occupied, and 
 left the upright tables resting upon the sides of the mountains — 
 or we may suppose that the sandstone now occupies the position 
 in which it was originally consolidated, and that the Rocky Moun- 
 tains have been forced up through it from below, deranging and dis- 
 placing in their passage such of the superincumbent strata as were 
 near enough to be effected by them. One or the other of these 
 conclusions appears to be unavoidable. 
 
 There is evidence that in some localities the elevation, 'in some 
 the depression, and in others successive elevations and depres- 
 sions of limited portions of the earth’s crust, have brought the 
 rocks into the positions they now occupy. Thus on the south- 
 ern coast of England, a Stratum of marine origin is oovered by a. 
 bed of black mould containing the petrified trunks of large trees 
 and their stumps still standing erect in their native soil. Over 
 these, fresh water, and higher still , other marine formations are ac- 
 cumulated to a thickness of more than 2CQ0 feet. It is evident that 
 the lower marine stratum must have been raised out of the sea, 
 and a soil formed upon its surface, in which a forest took root and 
 grew, and that the whole was afterwards for many ages the bot- 
 tom of a deep ocean. It is now a second time dry land- Similar 
 
EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES. 
 
 91 
 
 oscillations and changes of level are known to have occurred else- 
 where on the surface of the globe, and it may be conjectured that 
 they have not been uncommon. But of the two movements, upward 
 and downward, if we may judge from characters of the strata to 
 which we have access, the former have been more frequent than the 
 latter. Organic remains of marine origin are found imbedded in 
 greatabundancealong the sides or on the summits of mountains, but 
 this is not quite decisive. We do not know what submerged 
 continents may now be covered by the waters of the ocean. The 
 conclusion may however be regarded as warranted by the facts, 
 which living geologists have generally regarded themselves as 
 under the necessity of adopting — that the mountains which are 
 called primitive, though existing probably in the form of rocks 
 within the bowels of the earth, have been forced up through the 
 transition and secondary strata, producing that confusion and dis- 
 order which are so strikingly exhibited in the neighborhood of 
 the great mountain chains. 
 
 50. Prop. V. It is probable that the causes which are now 
 active in the production of the phenomena of earthquakes and 
 volcanoes, have effected important changes in the features of the 
 globe, in particular that they raised the primitive mountains 
 out of the bed of the sea. They also brought into existence 
 under t/ieir present form , a class of rocks (the trap rocks ) 
 that were the subject of fierce contention between the rival 
 schools of Hutton and fVerner. 
 
 We have now come to one of the most difficult problems in the 
 science of geology; that of accounting for the changes that have just 
 been stated and described. The unstratified rocks, and especially 
 granite, have been heaved out of the bowels of the earth, carrying 
 with them , and before them, strata thathad been accumulated at the 
 bottom of the ocean ,and have thus formed the existing continents. 
 How? What is the nature of the force hy which effects so vast 
 and magnificent have been produced? There will be given by 
 way of introduction to the discussion of this question, a brief ac- 
 count of the controversy that was maintained with the utmost 
 degree of vehemence and bitterness, about half a century ago, re- 
 t specting the origin of the Trap Hocks. v 
 
 } At a distance of about fifty miles from Freyburg where Wer- 
 \ ner taught mineralogy, the Erzgeberg mountains, rich in the me- 
 | tal ores, separate Saxony from Bohemia ; the chain being about 
 1 one hundred and twenty miles in length. Some of the highest 
 peaks of the chain, or of the spurs that make out from it, have a 
 cap of basalt upon their summits. The basalt is in the form of 
 huge blocks, two or three hundred feet in thickness. It occurs 
 on fourteen different mountains, scattered over an area of 600 
 square miles, but the surface of all the basalt taken together does 
 not much exceed a single square mile. The mountains themselves, 
 are primitive, being constituted of granite, gneiss, and mica and 
 clay slate. The basalt sometimes reposes directly on these rocks 
 
92 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH 
 
 and is sometimes separated from them by a thin layer of sandstone. 
 Galleries have been driven under the basalt for the purpose of pro- 
 curing ore from the subjacent formations, affording the means of 
 ascertaining beyond all doubt, that it cannot have been thrown up 
 from below. Werner finding it lying in some cases upon a rock 
 evidently secondary, and seeing upon the spot no evidence of its 
 igneous origin, classed it with his secondary rocks that have been 
 deposited from water. The correctness of this classification was 
 questioned by other geologists, and the disciples of Werner hold- 
 ing themselves bound to maintain the positions of their master, 
 there arose a long and angry dispute respecting the origin of ba- 
 salt, and in genera! of the fioetz or secondary trap rocks. 
 
 Secondary trap formations are seldom extensive. The rocksof 
 this class do not constitute great mountain chains. They general- 
 ly occupy an unconformable and overlying position on the top of 
 other strata. Sometimes they are irregular shapeless masses, but 
 they occur also in tables and of a globular form. A large block 
 of basalt is often divided by fissures into prisms, the numberof the 
 sides of which is variable, from three to nine. Four or five sides 
 are the most common. The sides of a trap formation frequently 
 present high perpendicular precipices, or a succession of these, of 
 less elevation, creating in the latter case natural terraces, whence the 
 name of Trap Hocks from the Swedish, trappa, signifying a stair. 
 The neighborhood of Edinburgh, the Western Islands of Scot- 
 land, the North of Ireland, and the Northern States furnish ex- 
 amples. 
 
 The igneous origin of the trap rocks has been inferred from 
 a variety of facts and observations, some of which are here 
 stated. 
 
 1. Basalt and some varieties of compact lava very much, re- 
 semble each other. They have the same texture, color, and ap- 
 pearance of having been subjected to the action of fire. That 
 variety of basalt on the other hand, which bears the riame of 
 Amygdaloid, imitates very exactly porous lava. After having 
 been exposed to an intense heat, basalt and lava if suddenly cool- 
 ed, assume the characters of glass, if slowly cooled, of stone. 
 The general range of their characters, both physical and chemi- 
 cal, is much the same. Basalt passes by insensible gradations 
 into the other trap rocks, so that whatever be the opinion that 
 is entertained respecting the one, it must be held in regard to 
 the others. 
 
 2. The position of the trap rocks, with respect to other rocks 
 and strata, is generally that which a mass of matter would assume 
 if poured in a fluid or semi-fluid state from a volcano. The su- 
 perincumbent and overlying position is peculiarly appropriate to 
 rocks that have been formed in this way. 
 
 3. Basaltic rocks are most frequently met with in those coun- 
 tries which exhibit other proofs of having been the seats of vol- 
 canic action. Daubisson when he had seen only the basalts of 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TRAP ROCKS. 
 
 93 
 
 Saxony, wrote a book in defence of the doctrines of Werner, but 
 after visiting the mountains of Auvergne, lie was satisfied that 
 the basaltic formations of that country are the products of volca- 
 noes, and disposed to generalize the proposition, and refer all 
 rocks of the same kind to the same origin. 
 
 4. When beds of limestone, or coal, are traversed by dykes of 
 basalt, or lie adjacent to a body of that substance, they are often 
 much altered at, and near, the point of contact ; the limestone 
 having been made to assume a crystalline structure, and the coal 
 deprived of its bitumen, and charred, and we know of no way 
 in which contiguous strata could produce this effect, except by 
 the intense heat of that which has changed the condition of the 
 | other. 
 
 The reasonings of the Wernerians were generally presented 
 ‘ under the form of objections to the doctrines of their opponents, 
 rather than as positive arguments in favor of their own opinions. 
 Thus in the case of the basalts of Saxony: mines have been run 
 quite under them, and it has been thus ascertained that they can- 
 not have been thrown out of the bowels of the mountains on 
 which they stand. The inference was drawn that they can- 
 not have been produced by the action of fire : but whether we 
 call in one or the other element, fire or water, to aid us in the 
 formation of these rocks, their position is equally embarrassing. 
 
 The great extent of some formations of basalt, was proposed 
 as an objection to the opinion that this rock is of igneous origin. 
 But when it is considered that the bed of lava which flowed from 
 Mount Heckla in 1784, is ninety-four miles in length, fifteen in 
 breadth, and in some places from eighty to an hundred feet in 
 thickness, the magnitude of the largest trap formation cannot be 
 regarded as presenting any very considerable difficulty. The 
 last century furnished another example of the energy with which 
 volcanic action may be exerted without convulsing the earth to 
 any great extent. On the night between the 28th and 29th of 
 September, 17A9, a tract of country four miles square, in the in- 
 j tendancy ’of Valladolid in Mexico, which had formerly been cul- 
 
 1 tivated ground, was thrown up to an elevation, at the highest 
 
 5 point, of about 1500 feet, ( the height of the Pilot Mountain above 
 
 | the surrounding country very nearly^). and converted into a vol- 
 
 1 cano, and yet this event was unknown to men of science until 
 
 ! H umboldt visited Mexico at the commencement of the present 
 
 I century. 
 
 It w'as further urged by the Wernerians that basalt sometimes 
 traverses or touches, strata of coal and limestone, without producing 
 any change in those substances at the point of contact, and that 
 it also embraces animal and vegetable remains. These are con- 
 j siderations of real weight, but the inference drawn from them 
 was rejected on the ground that the examples cited were few in 
 j number, and that the facts had in these cases been either misappre- 
 hended or misinterpreted. The beliefis universal amongst geologists 
 1 9 
 
94 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 of the present day, that basalt is of igneous origin, and in arriving 
 at this conclusion, they have been led to include with it, granite 
 and the other unstratified rocks. 
 
 Si. But how have these last been produced? In what particu- 
 lar way have they after their formation been heaved out of their 
 beds, and placed at great elevations above the level of the sea ? 
 Is there any analogy either intimate or remote, between the 
 causes and circumstances that have formed beds of lava upon the 
 surface, and those which created and raised into its present posi- 
 tion, the block of granite on which the University stands? On 
 these points the opinions of geologists are widely discordant. 
 
 1. It has been supposed by some, that there is a close resem-. 
 
 blance in the formation of beds of lava and masses of granite, the 
 causes to which they owe their origin, and the mode of their ac- 
 tion, being nearly the same for both : That they are the result 
 
 of chemical changes which are constantly proceeding within the 
 crust of the earth , and which either operate unseen and in silence, 
 until a force is accumulated that is superior to the resistance to 
 be overcome ; or acquire from time to time new activity, because 
 fresh masses of matter are brought into contact with each other. 
 In either case, there is a sudden and irresistible action, by which 
 long ranges of mountains are thrown up in the course of a few 
 weeks, or months, when the disturbing force appears to be ex- 
 hausted and sleeps for ages. The history of the earth , according 
 to this hypothesis, is made up of brief paroxysms of violence and 
 convulsion, and long intervals of repose. 
 
 2. Other geologists have represented that the amount of geo- 
 logical change has been in all ages pretty nearly the same ; that 
 the existing continents have been raised from the deep by a suc- 
 cession of movements, each so small as to have escaped notice at 
 the time of its occurrence, and which are still continued. Thus 
 some parts of the coast of Sweden are said to be rising at the 
 present day, but so slowly, that the fact is ascertained only by a 
 comparison of observations made at intervals of from fifty to one 
 hundred years. That there has been no change of the relative 
 
 m level of land .and water around the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 during many centuries, is proved by the fact that the stairs for de- 
 scending to the water’s edge, and the landing-places there, which 
 were constructed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, are in use 
 at the present day. 
 
 3. But neither the paroxysmal nor the secular hypothesis as-' 
 signs with precision and certainty the mode by which the effects 
 supposed by it are accomplished. Granting that the causes of 
 chemical change are active in the interior of the earth ; it is not 
 apparent in what way they can operate to produce the protrusion 
 of the rocks and the elevation of the strata. We cannot see why 
 they should even have any tendency to produce such effects. 
 And even if they are supposed only to modify the level of the 
 existing continents, by causing the depression of one point, 
 
CAUSES OF THE ELEVATION OF THE STRATA. 
 
 95 
 
 whilst they elevate another, the modus operandi by which they ac- 
 complish this is equally obscure. 
 
 4. Abandoning the idea that the dislocated and tilted condi- 
 
 tion of the strata is the result of chemical agencies, some philoso- 
 phers have turned their attention to the gradual refrigeration of 
 the globe, as the great cause of geological changes ; but still with 
 discordant views respecting the manner in which it would ope- 
 rate. A ball consisting of an exterior solid crust, and an interior 
 liquid mass, is floating in a medium whose temperature is less el- 
 evated than its own : What law will the cooling observe as it 
 
 proceeds ? Will it be most rapid, and the contraction most con- 
 siderable, in the crust, or in the fluid it contains ? 
 
 5. M. Elie de Beaumont supposes, that it will be greatest in 
 the latter, and that the crust becoming too large for the body it 
 is required to cover, will collapse, and accommodate itself to the 
 diminished magnitude uf the internal nucleus, rising into ridges 
 along certain lines that are not very remote from each other; 
 and that it is in this way that the strata have been shifted from 
 theiroriginal positions, and mountain ranges formed. M. Cordier, 
 on the other hand, represents that the cooling and contraction 
 will be the greatest in the crust. Fissures must therefore be created 
 in some places, to which it may be expected that the superabun- 
 dant matter will be directed by the pressure of that part of the 
 crust in which the cohesive force is not yet overcome. This 
 must produce a bulging out of the surface along the line of the 
 fissures; a ridge of granite, with the transition and secondary strata 
 adhering to it, and reposing upon it in an inclined position, on 
 each side. This hypothesis agrees better with the facts there- 
 fore than the other. 
 
 Whether we shall ever arrive at accurate knowledge, and con- 
 clusions in which we may repose undoubting confidence, respect- 
 ing the primary causes of geological phenomena, is perhaps doubt- 
 ful. The minds of the philosophers who are engaged in the cul- 
 tivation of this science, are now directed with intense interest to 
 this particular subject, and it may be hoped that correct results 
 will be obtained. But even if they should not, the value of the 
 knowledge we already possess, will not be much the less on that 
 account. Until within a very few years, it was the commonly 
 received and accredited doctrine, that light consists of minute 
 particles, thrown off with immense velocity, from the luminous 
 body. At present, the opinion that the phenomena of light are 
 the effect of undulations produced in an elastic medium dispersed /- 
 through the universe, threatens to supplant the other. But 
 whether we embrace one or the other hypothesis, all the great 
 principles and doctrines of the science of optics will remain un- 
 affected, and with no diminution of their truth and certainty. 
 And so will it be with regard to the cardinal facts and doctrines of 
 geology, whatever the uncertainty under which we labor in re- 
 gard to the primary causes of geological changes. 
 
96 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 52. Prop. VI. Sifter the strata constituting the present 
 crust of the globe hud been deposited , and before the consolida- 
 tion of the most recent secondary rocks, vast currents swept 
 over its surface, and in some instances scooped out deep ral- 
 lies, and in others transported rocks to a distance from their 
 original beds. 
 
 Of the propelling power which put these currents in motion 
 nothing is known with certainty ; whether for example they 
 were rivers, conveying the waters drained from a continent to 
 the ocean, or like the Gulf Stream , established in the ocean itself. 
 The evidences of their existence are still extant in the marks of 
 their ravages that remain. Nor is it meant to be asserted that 
 all vallies have been formed by the action of currents. 
 
 The attention of geologists was first called to the circumstances 
 under which boulder stones are found dispersed over the north- 
 ern parts of Switzerland, by Saussure. The Alps range along the 
 southeastern border of that country. Mont Blanc, the highest 
 peak, attaining an elevation of more than fifteen thousand feet, 
 is a block of granite, in which talc and chlorite are substituted 
 for mica. On the northwest, Switzerland is partly bounded, and 
 partly traversed, by Mount Jura, presenting strata of secondary- 
 limestone. The two ranges are separated by deep vallies, in 
 which flow, the Rhone, expanding in one part of its course so as 
 to form the lake of Geneva, and the Aar. On the top and along the 
 sides of Jura are found huge blocks, which have apparently been 
 torn from the opposite ridges of the Alps, and in some way or 
 other transported across the valley. They have no connex- 
 ion with, or resemblance to, the strata on which they lie, 
 and are identical in composition, and structure, with the 
 rocky masses that abound in the Alps. Respecting the man- 
 ner in- which their removal has been effected different opinions 
 have been entertained : — that they had become enveloped in a 
 body of ice, when the compound mass being lighter than an 
 equal bulk of water, floated away, and eventually subsided into 
 the situations in which the granitic blocks are now lying ; that 
 they were blown into the air by the force which elevated the 
 Alps and descended upon Jura ; that they were torn from the 
 Alps, and carried down the sides of those mountains, with a ve- 
 locity that caused them to roll up the side of Jura ; that there 
 was once a continuous inclined plane reaching from the upper re- 
 gions of the Alps, to the summit of Jura, along which they were 
 rolled into their present beds, and that the intervening -vallies 
 were scooped out afterward by a current ; that the elevation of 
 Jura was subsequent to that of the Alps, and that whilst it was 
 yet on a level with the base of those mountains, the boulders were 
 rolled down upon it, and afterwards elevated along with it. The 
 alluvial shores of the Baltic present examples of erratic blocks, 
 brought apparently from the mountains of Sweden and Norway. 
 They occur also in the valley of the Ohio. 
 
FORMATION OF TALLIES. 
 
 97 
 
 If these should be thought ambiguous examples of the action 
 of currents, there are others where the fragments can be traced 
 back, along the track of the current, to the rock from which they 
 were torn. Instances of this kind occur in England, which prove 
 that in that country, the movement of the waters was from the 
 northwest towards the southeast. In many parts of the northern 
 States, vast heaps of sand, gravel, and rounded pebbles, are piled up 
 in the heart of primitive districts which must have been brought 
 thither by currents. They are sometimes many feet in height, 
 i and cover extensive tracts. When cut through b^ torrents, they 
 * exhibit layers of rounded stones and sand, of different degrees of 
 j fineness, resting on each other, and different from the subjacent 
 
 1 rock on which they repose. If we except the low country ; parts 
 
 I of which I have sometimes suspected to have an intimate con- 
 nexion so far as relates to the time and mode of their formation 
 with these deposits ; we have no similar appearances in North 
 Carolina. 
 
 Many valleys have been formed by the action of currents. 
 i( When a valley takes its beginning, and continues its whole ex- 
 “tent, within the area of strata that are horizontal, or nearly so, 
 “ and which bear no marks of having been moved from their ori- 
 ** ginal place, by elevation, depression, or disturbance of any 
 ' “ kind ; and when it is also inclosed by hills that afford an ex- 
 “ act correspondence of opposite parts ; its origin must be refer- 
 red to the removal of the subtances that once filled it. And as 
 “ it is quite impossible that this removal could have been pro- 
 “duced in any conceivable duration of years, by the rivers 
 “ that now flow through them, we must attribute it to some cause 
 (t more powerful than any at present in action, and the only ad- 
 ‘ i missible explanation that suggests itself is, that they were exca- 
 “ vated oy the force of water in motion.” — Buckland, Reliquiae 
 Diluvianae. 
 
 Hutton and Playfair maintained that all vallies have been form- 
 j ed by the long continued erosion of the streams which actually 
 | run through them ; but there are innumerable instances where 
 | . streams do not exist, or where they are wholly inadequate to the 
 j production of the condition of things thatis observed. Fromthe 
 
 1 effects of the water that falls under the form of snow, or rain, 
 upon the soil of our fields, in forming gullies, and sweeping away 
 the finer particles and depositing them in the beds of the rivers ; 
 
 | the idea that the vallies in which those rivers flowhave been scoop- 
 ed out in a long succession of ages, strikes the mind in the first in- 
 stance, as in a high dogree probable. But when we attend to the 
 actual progress of the water in wearing away their beds, and ob- 
 serve also the sharp angles of the rocks to a great height on each 
 side, and the absence of those marks of attrition which must have 
 been found, had the valley been created in this way, we see the 
 necessity of a more efficient cause. If we trace the streams to the 
 ocean also, we find the deposits at their mouths by no means 
 
 9 * 
 
99 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 commensurate to the quantity of soil which would he necessary 
 to fill up the valiies in the interior. Other objections might be 
 proposed. Cases occur where there is such a combination of 
 longitudinal and transverse valiies, as proves incontestibly, that 
 the bed of the river was first formed, and the water afterwards 
 flowed in it, in obedience to the law of gravity, but wilhout exert- 
 ing any considerable agency in producing its excavation. The 
 Shenandoah and Potomac rivers in Virginia, will furnish an il- 
 lustration, though they they may not afford an example. Mr. 
 Jefferson supposes that the Blue Ridge was first thrown up, that 
 the two rivers afterwards began to flow, and to form a lake be- 
 hind the mountain, which continued to rise, until it reached the crust 
 of the ridge, when it broke over, and gradually tore away the 
 strata down to the present level of the bed of the stream. This 
 may be a correct account of what took place at the point where 
 the Potomac passes the ridge, hut cases occur on the surface of 
 the globe, where the appearances are the same, so far as relates 
 to the rupture of the mountain barrier, but it is found on exami- 
 nation, that the crest of the mountain is higher than the head of 
 the river, or than some other point on the edge of the basin, within 
 which the waters are supposed to have been confined, before they 
 broke through : and if the elevated land which separates the head 
 waters of the Shenandoah from the waters of James River, shall 
 be found to be lower than what was the original gap in the Blue 
 Ridge at Harper’s Ferry, or if any other point in the ridge, shall 
 turn out to be lower than the same gap, it is evident that the pro- 
 posed explanation of the appearances will be inadmissible. We 
 must then resort to some of those primeval currents that have 
 changed the face of other countries. 
 
 The existing valiies may be referred to three principal causes. 
 
 1. The irregular elevation and subsidence of the rocky stra- 
 ta of the globe, which have produced the greater inequalities of 
 ^irface. 
 
 2. Currents established in the ocean whilst large parts at least 
 of the present continents were covered with water. By these 
 the secondary strata have been torn away in places, and over large 
 areas, to a depth of some hundreds of feet, and the materials car- 
 ried off, creating what are called denudations ; the inferior beds 
 having been uncovered and brought up to the surface. Of this, 
 the district between London and Brighton on the southern coast 
 of England furnishes a remarkable example. When the effect is 
 such as to create a depression below the general surface of the 
 country there is formed a valley of denudation. 
 
 S. Rivers. These are constantly, though sometimes very 
 slowly acting upon their beds, and changing the form and aspect 
 of the valiies through which they flow. It is evident that those 
 depressions in their channels in which lakes are furmed, must 
 gradually disappear, being partly filled by the alluvion brought 
 in at their upper, and partly drained by the wearing away of the 
 
 - ^ 1 : •*/"> -v ‘V V-./V 
 
TRANSITION AND SECONDART STRATA. 
 
 99 
 
 barrier at their lower extremity. A great number of lakes, is there- 
 fore an indication that the region in which they lie , has hut recently 
 emerged from the ocean, and it is remarkable that the country around 
 the Baltic, which is supposed to he rising gradually at this time, 
 abounds in them, especially that part of Russia which borders on 
 the Qulf of Bothnia, and bears the name of Finland. The south- 
 ern States being without lakes, it may be inferred that the era of 
 their emergence is exceedingly remote, at least when compared 
 with that of Maine, and the other New England States, the ter- 
 tiary deposits of the seaboard, of course excepted. 
 
 53. Prop. VII. Since the consolidation of the crystalline or 
 ‘primitive rocks, the earth has undergone a great number of 
 catastrophes and revolutions , by which its free has been chang- 
 ed It is probable that in most cases, if not in alt, the causes 
 of these mutations in its condition and aspect, were local, and 
 their effects confined to an urea of no very great extent. 
 
 The transition and secondary strata are made up chiefly of the 
 rounded fragments and ruins of more ancient formations, (Sections 
 19 and 21.) The conglomerates, sandstones, clay-slates, lime- 
 stones, and beds of clay and sand of which they are constituted, 
 <lo not in themselves possess any high degree of interest. It is to 
 the organic remains they hold imbedded that the attention of ge- 
 ologists has been principally directed, especially during the last 
 30 or 40 years, with a view of ascertaining the different varieties 
 of animal and vegetable form and structure that have existed 
 j upon the earth, and the order of their succession, and thus arri- 
 ving at some sound and accurate conclusions respecting the con- 
 dition of the globe itself through a long series of ages, and the 
 i changes to which it has been subjected. The history of the se- 
 condary and tertiary strata is therefore, to a great extent, the 
 history of organic life during the periods of their formation. 
 
 If the earth was' originally a melted mass, it is evident that 
 there must have been a time subsequent to the consolidation of 
 the primitive rocks, when its temperature was such that water 
 j could not exist in a liquid slate upon its surface, but the existing 
 | oceans hung as an atmosphere of vapor around the hot and dry 
 f skeleton of the globe. To this period must have succeeded 
 | another, when the great mass of the vapor had been conden- 
 I sed into water — but water not many degrees below the boiling 
 point, and in which few animals and vegetables, if any, could 
 live. In this condition of things, the vapory and gaseous mass 
 surrounding the earth, would bear a considerable resemblance to 
 the now existing atmosphere. It would be composed principal- 
 ly, as at present, of the incondensible gases, oxygen and nitro- 
 gen, but would be highly charged with watery vapour, and pro- 
 bably also with carbonic acid. All the phenomena of meteorology, 
 evaporation, condensation, the wearing away of the solid rocks 
 by torrents as the rain that fell rushed down to the ocean, and 
 ' the formation of that mixture of fine particles of silica and alumina 
 
100 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 to which we give the name of clay, of pure unmixed sand, of 
 gravel and shingle — all these changes would proceed with much 
 greater rapidity than at the present day. There would be pro- 
 duced therefore, vast accumulations of the materials of the frag- 
 mented rocks, containing no organic remains, which by the in- 
 filtration of water containing silica dissolved in it, would be con- 
 verted into solid masses of breccia, conglomerate, and clay-slate. 
 The water of most springs is slightly impregnated with silica, 
 but the hot springs of Iceland and the Azores, prove that the so- 
 lubihty of this earth is very greatly increased when the tempera- 
 ture of the water is raised to the boiling point or above it. It is to 
 this remote era therefore, that we must refer the large body of 
 rocks ; flinty and clay-slates, hornstone, conglomerate, &c. that 
 stretches across the midland counties of North Carolina; a branch 
 of which follows the course and forms the bed of Morgan’s creek 
 between Barbee’s and Meritt’s mills, and communicates with the 
 main body at a point four or five miles northwest of the latter. 
 It is supposed to contain no organic remains, and to have been 
 formed anterior to the existence of organized beings, whether 
 animal or vegetable. 
 
 South-east of this and altogether different from it, in constitu- 
 tion, structure, color, and the kind of soil produced by its de- 
 composition is a body of sandstone, extending nearly across the 
 state, which contains coal in Chatham, and as this substance is 
 supposed to have had a vegetable origin, it is inferred that during 
 the period when this sandstone was in the act of being formed, 
 there must have been dry land at no great distance from the beds 
 ,©1 coal, and that the existence of vegetable organized beings upon 
 the earth had commenced. This sandstone is not known to 
 contain any remains of animals, and furnishes therefore no evi- 
 dence of their existence at the time of its formation. 
 
 54. With the exception of a few beds and masses of shell lime- 
 stone, in the low conntry, of limited extent, and mostly covered 
 by the sand, all the formations in North Carolina of later date 
 than the sandstone are of very recent origin. In tracing the 
 succession of events and of animal and vegetable forms, we are 
 compelled therefore, to direct our attention to some other por- 
 tion-of the earth’s surface for proofs and illustrations that are not 
 found in the region in which we live. In an investigation of 
 this kind, it is of but little impprtanee from what quarter of the 
 world these are drawn. For reasons already given ; because in 
 the English strata there is a long succession of secondary forma- 
 tions, within an area of moderate extent; (Sec. 29 .) and these 
 have been studied and described with as much accuracy as those 
 of any country ; it is to the south-eastern part -of the island of 
 Great Britain that our attention will be first and princially di- 
 rected. 
 
 It appears that nearly all of the transition and secondary strata of 
 England contain organic remains imbeded in them, and that these 
 
ORGANIC REMAINS. 
 
 101 
 
 j 
 
 remains are different in the different strata. In the transition 
 rocks are found various kinds of coral, madrepore, crinoidae, tri- 
 lobites, and other similar organic substances, very many of which 
 are altogether different from such as are known to exist in the 
 ocean at the present day. In many cases, not only has the spe- 
 cies or genus, but the type or general structure and form disap- 
 peared, so that amongst the living races there is none that bears 
 more than a distant resemblance to such as filled in countless mul- 
 titudes the waters of that ancient earth. The old red sandstone 
 and metalliferous limestone which rest upon the transition rocks, 
 also contain these remains, and in greater abundance, but they 
 are of a different kind, bearing however, a greater resemblance 
 to such as are found in the transition strata than to the tribes now 
 inhabiting the sea. The coal measures abound in fossil remains 
 and impressions of plants, but shells are rare, and in many cases 
 altogether wanting. The Magnesian limestone which comes 
 next has many shells, petrified fishes, and the remains of an am- 
 phibious animal of the genus Monitor are found in it. In the 
 new red sandstone organic remains are so very rare, that the ex- 
 istence of any, of whatever kind, in it was atone time denied by 
 geologists. In the Lias first make their appearance the Ichthyo- 
 sauri and Plesiosauri, large reptiles bearing some resemblance to 
 the alligator, but furnished with paddles instead of legs and feet, 
 as instruments of motion. Extending upward through the strata 
 to the chalk, they have with the turtles, crocodiles, and other 
 lizards that are associated with them, procured for this, the name 
 of the saurian period in the history of the earth, or the age of 
 reptiles. The Oolite abounds in organic remains consisting of 
 corals and other shells, the reptiles of the Lias, and several dif- 
 ferent kinds of Pterodactyle ; a creature in which were united the 
 characters of a reptile, a bird, and a mammal, with wings like a 
 bat, and supposed like him to have been abroad in search of food 
 in the dusk of the evening or at night. Here also for the first 
 time do we find the remains of a quadruped inhabiting the land. 
 They are the bones of a species of Opossum. 
 
 In the strata still above, other remains of other genera occur, 
 but traces of land animals are either few in number or altogether 
 wanting. Chalk which was long regarded as a precipitate from 
 water highly charged with carbonate of lime, proves under the 
 microscope, to bean aggregation of shells too minute to be distin- 
 guishable by the naked eye. It is not till we come to the most 
 recent strata and a bed of clay, sand, and gravel, covering 
 all the other formations, that we find evidence that the earth 
 has at a former, distant era, been thickly peopled by quadrupeds 
 resembling those which now occupy its surface, though differing 
 from them in some respects. It is in this upper bed that the fos- 
 sil bones of Elephants, Hippopotami, and Rhinoceri occur. 
 
 From these facts it may be inferred, that these different strata 
 were formed in succession, and that each in its turn has been up- 
 
102 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 permost. Whether we suppose the animals to have lived and 
 died on the spot where their remains are found, or that those 
 remains were brought in from abroad, and deposited in the places 
 where they now lie, the inference must be the same. Two strata 
 are in contact with each other; they are composed of different 
 materials ; one is a limestone, the other made up of particles of 
 sand ; they envelope different organic remains ; they were both 
 deposited from water. Can any thing be clearer than that the 
 lower stratum was deposited first, a succession of ages being per- 
 haps occupied in its formation ; that at the end of that time a 
 great revolution occurred, hy which the condition either of the 
 whole surface of the globe, or of a pai ticular part of it, was chang- 
 ed, and by which many of the animals then existing on it were 
 destroyed, since no traces of them are found in the rocks formed 
 since that epoch. 
 
 A new order of things now arose, new races of living creatures 
 came into being, and through the influence of causes which are 
 unknown to us, a stratum of a different character was deposited. 
 A second revolution supervened, swept off those new races and 
 many of the remaining old ones and introduced a new era. Thus 
 through many rolling ages has the earth been changed. The 
 last great catastrophe it experienced was the deluge recorded by 
 Moses in the scriptures. 
 
 But these statements and remarks relate to the south-eastern 
 part of the island of Great Britain. A question arises respecting 
 the amount 6f agreement and correspondence that has been al- 
 ready observed, or which we may hereafter expect to discover, 
 between the secondary strata of England and those of other coun- 
 tries. Shall we find elsewhere the same number of formations 
 succeeding each other in the same order ? If the views now gen- 
 erally entertained by geologists respecting the original condition 
 of the globe, and the present temperature of its interior parts, shall 
 be deemed worthy of adoption, it will follow that the state of its 
 exterior surface, and its relations to animal and vegetable life 
 whilst the strata in question were in the act of being formed, 
 must have depended in a considerable degree upon fts tempera- 
 ture simply, and as this must have been nearly the same in every 
 part, a general correspondence, and especially an agreement in 
 regard to the remains they hold imbedded, may be expected, be- 
 tween the strata of parts of the globe remote from each other, and the 
 formations of any one country, may be regarded as furnishing 
 a general type of those of any other country. The resemblance is 
 found however, in fact, to be partial and imperfect. The composition 
 and structure of a stratum remainingunchanged, theremainsimbed- 
 ed in its remote parts are not exactly the same. More frequent- 
 ly, the organic remains being constant, the stratum or including" 
 rock will vary. A formation occupying a large space in one 
 part of the globe, will be wanting, or its place supplied by a to- 
 tally different, or as it is commonly called, equivalent formation 
 
ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE REMAINS. 
 
 103 
 
 in -another. Of the whole crust of the earth, it would appear in 
 the present state of our own knowledge, that no portion has ex- 
 perienced so many vicissitudes, been the theatre of so may revo- 
 lutions, and presents as their effect so long a series of formations, 
 as that which in England, France, and Germany, has been the 
 most, accurately examined. Still, the following conclusions, 
 drawn from Ihe appearances presented by the strata of England 
 respecting the condition of that island whilst the changes of which 
 its present form and aspect were the result, were proceeding, hold 
 good to some extent for the whole surface of the earth; 
 
 1. It is probable that after the consolidation of the primitive 
 1 rocks, 'the water bore a much larger relative proportion than it 
 | now does to the land. The remains that are found in the transi- 
 ! tion strata belong without any exception to such animals as in- 
 habit the sea. 
 
 2. ' At the end of this period another succeeded, during which 
 its surface was occupied by extensive marshes, the waters having 
 retired from those situations which had before remained 
 constantly covered. In this state of things it was that the 
 coal beds were deposited. The proof of such a condition 
 of the earth is found in the nature of the vegetable remains 
 which are imbedded in the coal strata. They appear to have 
 belonged to plants resembling the arborescent ferns and reeds 
 of tropical climates, and to have been fitted therefore to flourish 
 on marshy ground and in a meagre soil. A person who has seen 
 the Palmetto, or Cabbage-tree, growing along the southern shores 
 of North Carolina, will have a tolerably correct idea of what their 
 appearance may have been. It was at this remote era therefore, 
 that the magazine was prepared, and the whole stock of materials 
 laid in, which now keeps the manufactures of England in activity. 
 
 8, After the formation of the coal strata, the waters again over- 
 flowed that country; and at no great distance of time, a period suc- 
 ceeded, during which it seems to have been almost throughout, 
 j a waste desert, without a plant or an animal existing upon its sur- 
 face. Now it was that the new red sandstone, with its beds of 
 l fossil salt and gypsum, was deposited. 
 
 4. Shell fish were afterwards formed in greater numbers, and 
 some oviparous, amphibious quadrupeds, such as tortoises, lizards, 
 and crocodiles, were created, and as the earth was now fitted to be 
 the habitation of such creatures, it must have been as now, terra- 
 queous ; but as some have supposed, with the land barely rising 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 5. Subsequently, .the mountains were thrown up and the ex- 
 isting continents emerged from the deep ; and the dry land hav- 
 ing become extensive with respect to the sea, was peopled with 
 birds and quadrupeds fitted to inhabit it. 
 
 6. East of all, as we are informed by Moses, and as the ob- 
 servations of geologists warrant us in believing, MAN, the rio- 
 
 j blest of God’s works, was created ; to adore, love, and serve his 
 
104 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 Maker, to perform arts of kindness to his fellows, to speculate on 
 the magnificent mechanism of ihe universe, trace the evidences 
 of the revolutions and catastrophes which the globe on which he 
 dwells has undergone in former ages; he filled with wonder 
 and astonishment in meditating on the magnitude of those gigan- 
 tic powers which were able thus to change the face of nature, 
 but without ever being able to ascertain fully their nature, or de- 
 termine what were the causes that quickened them into ac- 
 tion. 
 
 55. A question will here arise in the minds of some persons, 
 which in view of what has been handed down from our fathers, and 
 is commonly received as revealed truth amongst us, it becomes me 
 to be prepared to answer, and as 1 may without travelling out of 
 my proper province, or abandoning those objects to which these 
 pages are particularly devoted, invite attention to the subject, it 
 will betaken up at once whilst it is yet fresh in the mind. 
 
 How, it will he nquired, does all this agree with the Mosaic 
 account of the creation contained in the Bible? I might content 
 myself with replying, “As well as the doctrines of modern As- 
 tronomy agree with what is contained in the same account.” We 
 read : — 
 
 Ge nf.sis, i. G. And God said let there be a firmament in 
 the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the 
 waters. 
 
 7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters 
 which were under the firmament, from the waters which were 
 above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firma- 
 ment 1 fcaven. 
 
 1 1. And God said let there he lights in the firmament of the 
 heaven, to divide the day from the night, and let them be for 
 signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years. 
 
 15. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven 
 to give light upon the earth, and it was so. 
 
 1G. And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule 
 the day, and the lesser light to rule the night ; lie made the stars 
 also. 
 
 17. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give 
 light upon the earth. 
 
 IS. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide 
 the light from the darkness : and God saw that it was good. 
 
 The language of the last five verses, (from the 14th to the ISth 
 inclusive) taken in its literal acceptation, would seem to inform 
 us, that the particular and specific object for which the sun moon 
 and stars were created was, to give light to the inhabitants of the 
 earth. Butat the present day, mankind make an allowance for 
 the circumstances under which these words were written, and 
 believe that the sun and stars were created for some higher ob- 
 ject than the mere furnishing of light, and the stars a very fee- 
 ble light, to the small planet on which we live, though it is also 
 
-** l: ■' 
 
 SCHrPTTrRK'AND GE0I.0G7. 
 
 105 
 
 
 6 
 
 ;fiit givrh gl i ght to the inhabitants of the earth is onVpf;/ 
 ^^jl^^Jpainted to fulfil. ^ Nordo they regard them^ 
 _ .. 3 ..>^ort%.^br«s- Christiana^as^tbe^' become better as- 7 
 also Ihat thft^HeayenJy bodies were placed -, 
 which in the 7th yetsc is represented as having ? 
 ^^^tbtsVhder i£ rind waters above^it^and to be therefore within Ihe ;; 
 %apth , s' r atmpspK^Tf .• ? i*ir'P' .• ~ 
 
 ^^^S^DOthih^i'p^he discoveries and speculations of sound T 
 ^ jjjat w []] be found to militate against the 
 
 _ TO j£feerigl^j^ t<S^ i ^ ^S^ ra ^^ai ibn^d^iabqS^jasiil»-~' 
 
 ! ^welf ^#^d^tood^^||^tBp|^ara neyVrJto^ 
 
 ; to teach 
 
 or geology. He leaves them to 
 in the sciences by means of the faculties he has 
 ^ ^yeh^hemj and only instructs them, in their duties to himself,. > 
 I ^ an^^aeh trtheiy arsing from- their'-relations to Him as their 
 
 ™ r - — - perhaps . 
 interpo- 
 
 ^ *.. majesty 
 
 ^to^l^^.ose- elements of" the sciences, which we shall discover 
 £;';^nfd dearie by the exertion of our own intellectual power§,^ t ;. 
 
 of 
 
 ^//•{i^tb^j^e.sacred' penitiao^does' hoit'enitftrHntb any minute philo- 
 - '• sophWa) .details," .. ' In giving an account of what took place on the 
 :;;^e^th r before the creation of man, he does not write a system of 
 1 '.geology, ' and. tell in) what succession,’ and at’ \vhat intervals, the' 
 
 or' America, assumed their present 
 I'- fc^m and were consolidated. ^.The introduction of such matter 
 tvi'ldlo i Sf; ; l)6pk'-in tended; in the first instahc^dr'tlte simple anti 
 jrtdlshdd’ Hebrews) arid afterwards,* ’ for Ihd instruction of the poor) 
 
 ^ ;andr ignorant of every covintry and every age, would evidently 
 ^;.t*iiy#^eii'_ihexpedientj,'and a proof lh$kthe writer was not under 
 t^dgufd a n ce o fjia influence 'procee^jg^^ i : I n speaiy; 
 
 mbst-tise^fie''Iadguage of.inin, ' or' he will not be 
 feuiraetsfood/ ' As in giving an account of the creation, of the 
 
 Jid^yehly bodies, the expressions of Moses are ^evidently accom-.. 
 f: midtlated to the first, ancLfamiUar nbti.on^ofms^indrderiv.ed. frond. 
 
 .%.^^t^vrejlftfs"l>y''what-particular process the various bodies around 
 : tis came i nto ;exi stence ■ from, nothing, but to. let us know ihda.dri 
 ^^ag^l^.^eif.fttte'd fofjthe puj^ose that could be employed, that 
 l- it^a^b^isuccessive exertiohsiarAVmiglttyrpower, that the earth 
 :' 4 3^^brpb|hnntd -its present forro -and 'condition— a truth which 
 ' _the diicoyerTes of geology abundantly establish. ^ 
 
 ^^[tjis^eop^osed ?.te beuthe' opinion of;dvery respectable living 
 r^^thatHlm earth had existed , andiieqn inhabited byliving 
 - d^eatq^Sj-ancrsubjected to various catastrophes and changes, many' 
 thousand Of ages before the creation of man. But all thosemore 
 ? ; 'V.' ... 7 ' .. io ■*>;■. 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 ancient transactions and events are omitted in the history. In the 
 first verse of Genesis the general proposition is enunciated,- that 
 the heavens and the earth are the workmanship of the Divinity. 
 The sacred writer, passing over myriads of centuries, then comes 
 down at once to the era, when at the close of some mighty revo- 
 lution that had just occurred, when “ the earth was without form 
 and void,” God was about to descend once more in creative em- 
 ergy upon our planet, to reform its disorders, rebuild its desola- 
 tions, and especially to give being to that nobler race of living 
 creatures, for whose instructions this record was drawn up. The 
 narrative is here resumed, and in giving an account of the trans- 
 actions of six successive days, he appears to mingle with that par- 
 ticular history, some notices of events of a far more ancient date; 
 just as in the prophecies, reference is had in the first instance to 
 occurences soon to take place, and afterwards to olhersof greater 
 importance, in which, the prediction is to receive its full and per- 
 fect accomplishment. 
 
 If any one then shall raise an outcry against geology, as hostile 
 to the truths of Revelation, he will only make it evident that he 
 shares the ignorance and folly of the inquisitors who dictated to 
 Galileo the celebrated confession, in which he renounces the doc- 
 triue that the sun is immoveably fixed in the heavens and the 
 earth in motion, as a pestilent heresy. - 
 
 “ I, Galileo Galilei , son of Vincent Galilei, by birth a Floren- 
 tine, aged seventy years, — declare ; that inasmuch as the Holy 
 ‘‘office had in a regular and lawful manner enjoined upon me -to 
 “ abandon the false opinion that the sun is the centre of the system 
 “ and immoveable, and that the earth is nol the centre of the uni- 
 “ verse, and that it is in motion, and inasmuch as I ought not 
 “ afterwards to have either held, defended, or taught, this doctrine, 
 “in any manner whatever, in conversation or by writing, and not- 
 “ withstanding, after it. had been declared tome that the aforesaid 
 “doctrine is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, I have written and 
 “caused to be printed, a book, wherein I treat of that condemn- 
 “ ed doctrine, and bring arguments of great weight in favour of it, 
 “ without giving any refutation of them, I have therefore been 
 “ adjudged to be strongly suspected of heresy, and as havingbe- 
 “ lieved that the sun is in the centre of the universe and motion- 
 “ less, and that the earth is not the centre, and that it moves — 
 “ therefore, wishing to remove fiom the minds of jour Eminen- 
 ces, and of every orthodox Christain, this violent suspicion, 
 “with such good reason entertained against me, with a sincere 
 “heart, and faith unfeigned, I abjure, condemn, and detest, the 
 “above mentioned errors and heresies, and I swear, that in fu- 
 “ ture I will not say or alarm anything, either in conversation -or 
 “ by writing, which shall afford ground for such suspicions 
 “ against me.” 
 
 Such was the humiliating abjuration exacted of Galileo, of an 
 opinion now regarded bj f the whole civilized world, not only as 
 
TERTIARY FORMATIONS. 
 
 107 
 
 harmless, and consistent with a sincere attachment to the Christian 
 faith, butas the only one that can beentertained by person ofa sound 
 and enlightened mind ; and the objection raised against it was, that 
 it seemed to be at variance will* the literal meaning of the sacred 
 writings. Such are the consequences of supposing that what we may 
 regard as a literal interpretation of the language of the scriptures 
 should interfere with the freedom of philosophical inquiry.* 
 
 OF TERTIARY FORMATIONS. 
 
 56. A principal source of the errors into which men have fall- 
 en, and of the unsound doctrines they have embraced in the 
 science of Geology, is to be found in their assumptions respecting 
 the age of the earth, which has very generally been held not to 
 have existed more than a few thousands of years. The creation 
 of man, was supposed to have been immediately consequent upon 
 that of the soil on which he was to tread, and as the descendants 
 of Adam are given in regular succession, down to the date to 
 which profane history ascends, a reverence Cor what was sup- 
 posed to be recorded as true in the sacred volume, shackled the 
 spirit of free enquiry. And even after it was observed that 
 without abandoning our belief in the divine origin of the scrip- 
 tures, or rejecting any of the statements contained in them, we 
 may assign a greater antiquity to the earth, men were slow in 
 appropriating the eternity which we know must be already past, 
 .to the production of the changes that the crust of the globe has 
 . evidently undergone. As in the first attempts at navigation, it 
 was a small arm of a bay, or a river, that was passed, next there 
 was a tedious and winding voyage along the shore, and always 
 within sight of land, and it was not till ages had elapsed, that the 
 mariner learned to commit himself fearlessly to the broad ocean 
 — so, when it began to be generally admitted that the earth had 
 existed, and been the dwelling place of living beings, prior to the 
 creation of man, geologists seemed filled with a strange apprehen 
 sion and dread of the past eternity, and contented themselves with 
 the opinion that the earth might be some few centuries or thou- 
 | sands of years older, than had been previously supposed. They 
 i were fearful of embracing the idea that the earth though not eter 
 j nal, might be of an age, in comparison with which, the existence 
 j of man upon its surface sinks into insignificance. The tendency 
 ; of modern discoveries in geology has been, to enlarge immeasura 
 bly the supposed term of its past duration. 
 
 We have heretofore given the names, and the order of succes- 
 sion, of a long series of secondary strata, occupying the south- 
 ] eastern part of England, (Sec. 29,) and stated that the races 
 | which are entombed in the oldest of these strata must have differ 
 | ed widely from such as now inhabit the earth ; but that there is 
 | a gradual approach in the more recent strata, to the type of such 
 as are found living in the existing oceans. .The most recent of 
 
109 
 
 DISTORT OF THE EARTH. 
 
 the secondary formations is the chalk that presents itself so 
 conspicuously in the cliffs of Dover to a person who is approach- 
 ing the island from the southeast. It abounds in organic remains, 
 but until recently was supposed not to contain a single species 
 that is known to inhabit the earth at the present time. Since the 
 deposition of the chalk therefore, it appeared that the population 
 of the earth had undergone a total change, not only in regard to 
 the individuals occupying it but in regard to species. 
 
 Above the chalk, in Messrs. Conybeare and Philips’ Outlines 
 of the Geology of the country, there are noticed and described 
 three or four formations in the neighbourhood of London,. and 
 upon, and near the Isle of Wight, ol limited extent, where the 
 species now inhabiting the ocean begin to make their appearance ; 
 at first or in the lower beds ; rarely, and mixed with a large num- 
 ber of extinct species, but afterwards in greater variety. Here 
 then the line of demarcation was drawn between the seconda- 
 ry and tertiary strata, the former, being such as contain extinct 
 species only , the latter, an intermixture in larger or smaller num- 
 bers, of species that arc recent or still living. 
 
 Very recently, Ehrenberg, employing the microscope in these 
 investigations, has ascertained that a great number of shells, most- 
 ly too small to be accurately distinguished by the naked eye, are 
 common to the chalk and the more recent strata. But the line 
 of separation here indicated, will probably not be changed on that 
 account. 
 
 It was formerly held that the deposition of the chalk, the new- 
 est of the secondary strata, was an event of comparatively recent 
 occurrence, and if not actually within it, approaching the borders 
 of our own time. This opinion is now abandoned, and the chalk 
 referred to an era exceedingly remote ; separated in fact from the 
 present day, by ages, compared with which the period embraced 
 by human records whether sacred or profane, is but a brief and 
 evanescent term of duration. We have now to state the facts and 
 observations on which these new views and doctrines are founded. 
 
 The tertiary district that first attracted particular notice is that 
 which surrounds the city of Paris, embracing an area of about 
 7100 square miles, equal to the oneseventh part of the state of 
 North Carolina. It is commonly called the Paris basin, that city 
 being nearly in its centre. It is surrounded by chalk on every 
 side except the south, and southwest, in which directions that form- 
 ation is wanting, and the tertiary beds rest upon^te strata under- 
 lying the chalk. v ' 
 
 When a new impulse was given to the sftulyrof Geology at 
 Freyburg, the attention of Werner and his disciples was directed 
 principally, and with the most interest, to the more ancient rocks. 
 To these succeeded as objects of study and investigation, the se- 
 condary strata, especially those of England. It was not till the 
 publication of the “ Mineralogical Geography of the Environs of 
 the city of Paris,” by Cuvier and Brongniart, in 1811, that the 
 
TERTIARY FORMATIONS. 
 
 109 
 
 j 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 ? 
 
 p 
 
 highly interesting character of the tertiary strata began to be ap- 
 preciated and understood. Those occupying the Paris basin were 
 represented by these philosophers as admitting of four great di- 
 visions, and these of certain smaller subdivisions. 
 
 1. Immediately upon the chalk reposes a stratum of marine 
 origin, with some intermixture of freshwater beds. The most 
 important member of this division is a coarse limestone, abound- 
 ing in shells, in excellent preservation. It is about ninety feet in 
 thickness, and as some parts of it afford a building stone of good 
 quality, numerous quarries have been opened in it beneath and 
 around the city of Paris. 
 
 2. Next in order, is a freshwater formation, consisting of beds 
 of gypsum and gypseous marl. It is remarkable chiefly as con- 
 taining near its upper surface, the remains of several genera and 
 species of Mammalia that no longer exist upon the surface of the 
 globe, the successful study and determination of which have im- 
 mortalized the name of Cuvier. 
 
 3. There succeeds a stratum of sandstone, the lower beds of 
 which are without organized remains of any kind, but those high- 
 er up, abound in shells belonging to races that inhabit the sea. 
 
 4. Covering all these is a second freshwater formation of very 
 variable mineralogical character, presenting in some parts a soft 
 friable limestone, and in others the hardest siliceous minerals, as 
 jasper and buhr millstone. 
 
 The order of superposition of these deposits was represented to 
 be such as has just been stated, but they all rise to the surface in 
 places, as along their edges, or where they have been laid bare by 
 the removal of the mass of material lying above. The shells had 
 been previously studied and illustrated with wonderful zeal and 
 ability by Lamarck ; the bones of the Mammalia attracted the at- 
 tention of Cuvier about tbe year 1800, and gave origin to the in- 
 vestigation by Cuvier and Brongniart, the results of which have 
 just been exhibited. Succeeding observers have proposed some 
 modifications of the scheme of classification, especially in the first 
 and second of these assemblages of strata, which are now sup- 
 posed to have been nearly contemporaneous. 
 
 As the investigations just noticed, were conducted with great 
 skill and ability, and the published report of them was very full, 
 filling nearly 300 quarto pages, the strata of tbe Paris basin be- 
 came a sort of standard to which other strata bearing any resem- 
 blance to them, discovered in other countries, were referred. 
 Such strata exist in England, on both sides of the Thames, above 
 and below London, %nd upon the Isle of Wight and in its neighbor- 
 hood, but of much greater extent and importance in Italy, on both 
 sides of the Appenines. 
 
 It would appear that what now bears the name of Italy, was at 
 the time of its first emergence from the deep, but a long narrow 
 ridge, consisting indeed merely of what is now the Appenines, 
 with a sea of moderate depth on each side. On the flanks of 
 
 10 * 
 
110 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 these mountains, races of shell-fish came into existence, lived and 
 died, accumulating the materials for tertiary strata of great ex- 
 tent and thickness. The power which had elevated the Appenines 
 now became active a second time, and Italy rose from the waters 
 eo-extensive with its present limits. Corresponding remarks 
 may be made respecting the island of Sicily, in the southern 
 part of which, the tertiary strata have been lifted to the height, of 
 3000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 But when the shells from the Paris basin, from the sub-Ap- 
 penine deposits, and from the south of Sicily, were compared 
 with each other, and with recent or living species, a wide differ- 
 ence is observed amongst them. In the Paris Basin, nearly all the 
 species collected and determined, amounting to more than a thou- 
 sand, (1238,) are now extinct, only 42 of the whole number being 
 still living. The proportion of living species, is thatof three and a 
 half in an hundred, nearly. On the Loire, in the south of France 
 near Bourdeaux, in Piedmont, and in the basin of Vienna, in which 
 places there are tertiary deposits, the proportion is about eighteen 
 in a hundred. In the sub- A ppenine beds, from a third to a half of the 
 species are still alive in the waters of the Mediterranean, though 
 they are generally more numerous in seas nearer the equator, and 
 attain a larger size there, indicating that a tropical climate, where 
 its increase and development is greatest, is the appropriate hab- 
 itat of the species ; and as the shells dug up in Italy are also larger 
 than those that now cover the living animal in the Mediterranean, 
 it is inferred that the climate of that country was formerly hotter 
 than it is at present. Finally, the shells obtained in the southern 
 part of Sicily, and sometimes on the tops of mountains of con- 
 siderable elevation, agree, with few exceptions, with such as are 
 found in the neighbouring seas at the present day. 
 
 The general inference drawn from these facts, is, that the strata 
 of the Paris basin, of the basin of Vienna, of the sub-Appenlne, 
 and of the south of Sicily, are not only not contemporaneous, 
 but separated from each other by immense intervals of time. 
 Between the era of the Paris basin and of that of Vienna, a period 
 intervened during which not merely individuals, but whole spe- 
 cies perished and became extinct, and others were created to sup- 
 ply their places. A corresponding lapse of ages separates other 
 tertiary deposits that differ in the same manner from each other, 
 in the number of the living species they furnish. Nor does it 
 appear that the genera or species which perished were swepl away 
 by any sudden and violent catastrophe. Either some unknown 
 casualty brought the existence of tire different races one by one 
 to its close, or perhaps every species receives into its constitution 
 at its creation, the seeds of decay and dissolution, along with the 
 principle of life, so that the period during which it is to inhabit 
 the earth, is circumscribed by certain definite limits. 
 
 That geologists may be furnished with convenient names by 
 which to mark and designate in their publications and communi- 
 
TERTIARY FORMATIONS : TIIE DELUGE 
 
 111 
 
 cations with each other the periods during which the strata we 
 are now considering were deposited, the following terms, which 
 have come into pretty general use, and are of frequent occurrence 
 in the recent works on geology, have been proposed byLyell. 
 
 1. For the earliest of the periods we have noticed, that during 
 which the strata of the Paris basin were deposited, he has pro- 
 posed the title of Eocene, from «'«; aurora, and **<«{, recent, or 
 new, because the extremely small proportion of living species 
 contained in these strata, indicates what may be considered as the 
 first commencement, or dawn of the existing state of the animate 
 creation. 
 
 2. The next following epoch he names Miocene ; from 
 minor, less, and ****«?; a minority only of fossil shells em- 
 bedded in the formations of this period being of recent species ; 
 a little less than eighteen in one hundred. The south of France 
 near Bourdeaux, Piedmont, and the basin of Vienna, are exam- 
 ples of Miocene formations. 
 
 3. 4. To the strata of Italy and Sicily are appropriated the 
 
 designations of older and newer Pliocene ; from Thaui, major, 
 greater, and indicating a nearer approach and more inti- 
 
 mate resemblance to the existing population of the ocean. A 
 part at least of the Low Country of North Carolina ; perhaps the 
 whole, (a few isolated rocks excepted,) belongs to the Pliocene 
 period. 
 
 From the statements just made, it will appear, that since the 
 era when the deposition of the tertiary strata commenced, geo- 
 logical formations have been of limited extent. The materials 
 of which they aie composed are accumulated during an indefinite 
 period in the bottom of the sea ; the causes of geological phenom- 
 ena that had apparently been slumbering for ages then awaken 
 to new activity, and a tract of greater or less extent is raised above 
 the waves, and added to the previously existing continents. It 
 is in this way, and not by the gradual accretion and extension of 
 its shores, that the Low Country of the United States has been 
 gained from the ocean- 
 
 57. Prop. VI II. Since l he tertiary strata were deposited, 
 and since the creation of the existing races of brute animals, 
 and of man, one great catastrophe has changed the face of the 
 earth. ' A food of waters has covered those parts of the earth's 
 surface which had previously been and are now dry land. 
 
 The appropriate demonstration of the truth of this proposition 
 is furnished by the Holy Scriptures. Of the truth and credibility 
 of the statements contained in the scriptures, the well authenticat- 
 ed, miracles recorded in them furnish ample proof, shewing as 
 they do, that this one book is a revelation from the mosthigh God. 
 
 The belief has been fondly entertained by some persons, that 
 evident marks and traces of the deluge are still visible upon the 
 surface of the globe, and they would bring in physical, to aid in 
 the establishment and support of theological truth. But even if 
 
112 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 vve discover the effects of an ancient inundation, and the ravages 
 produced apparently hy a flood of waters in motion, it will be 
 difficult to prove tl\at they are to be referred to that particular 
 catastrophe of which Moses has furnished us with a brief history, 
 and not to some other one of those great revolutions that have 
 changed the face of the earth. 
 
 It is probable that natural science will be compelled at length 
 to confess her utter ignorance on all points connected with the 
 subject of revealed religion, and to acknowledge that her testi- 
 mony is altogether of a negative character, that she can offer 
 'nothing decisive either for or against it. The facts that have 
 been supposed to have a bearing upon this question, and an ab- 
 stract of the conclusions drawn from them, are now to be ex- 
 hibited. 
 
 Jill the shells, of whatever age or kind, that are found far in- 
 land, on the summits, or imbedded in the strata of mountains, 
 were once adduced as proofs of Noah’s deluge. Not one person 
 held entitled to the name and character of a philosopher takes 
 this view of them now. They existed, and nearly in the places 
 where we find them, millions of ages before Adam was created. 
 But the recent beds of sand, loam, and gravel, sometimes’envelop- 
 ing the remains of various animals, that present themselves in 
 many different parts of the world, are still referred by some ge- 
 ologists to the deluge, and considered as furnishing satisfactory 
 evidence of the occurrence of such an event. 
 
 They are not known to exist in North Carolina, but are of 
 frequent occurrence, though generally without organic remains, 
 in the Northern and Western States, and with remains imbeded, on 
 the Island of Great Britain, and the Continent of Europe, and in 
 the northern part at least, of the Continent of Asia. The appear- 
 ance of these accumulations of loam and gravel, the nature of the 
 pebbles fonnd in them, and the circumstances under which the 
 bones exist in them, (at considerable depths, and not upon the 
 surface, where the bones of such animals are left, as perish by 
 disease, or are killed by other species, ) prove that the whole mass 
 has been produced by a flood of moving waters. Nor is it a valid 
 objection to this inference, that we may be unable to assign the 
 cause, either proximate or remote, by which such an inundation 
 may have been produced, and the waters set in motion, those cases 
 being of frequent occurrence in Geology, where we are certain that 
 events have taken place, whilst we are unable to specify the agent 
 and method by which they have been accomplished. Some of 
 the theories however that have been proposed for accounting for 
 the deluge by the operation of natural causes, are entitled to a 
 passing notice. 
 
 Amongst the bones which are found imbeded in diluvium , (for 
 by this name the sediment or mud of the deluge is distinguished 
 from the alluvion of rivers) are those of the elephant, which have 
 been dug up in all parts of the world. It is in Asiatic Russia that 
 
noah’s deluge. 
 
 113 
 
 they occur in the greatest abundance. Pallas says that from the 
 Don to Kamschatka there is scarcely a river whose bank does not 
 afford remains of the mammoth or elephant. The hones are 
 generally dispersed, seldom occurring in complete skeletons. It 
 was long denied that they are the remains of the elephant, and 
 asserted that they are lusus naturae, bones of giants, skeletons of 
 fallen angels, &c. When there could no longer be any doubt on 
 this point, a new difficulty arose. But two living species of ele- 
 phant are known ; the Asiatic and the African, both of which are 
 inhabitants of a warm climate. But the bones in question are 
 found in the greatest abundance along the northern border of the 
 empire of Russia, a region locked up in eternal frost. The quan- 
 tity of the ivory furnished annually to the arts by that quarter of 
 the world is by no means inconsiderable. 
 
 These facts suggested one of the celebrated theories of the de- 
 luge; that namely, which attributes it to a change in the position 
 of the earth’s axis, and represents that the antediluvian world spun 
 around an axis terminating in the main Atlantic and Pacific 
 oceans, so that northern Asia, and the eastern part of Africa, be- 
 longed to the equatorial regions. 
 
 This theory is refuted by a number of independent arguments. 
 An experiment furnished by the whirling-table is alone decisive. 
 It proves that a yielding body revolving rapidly, assumes the 
 figure of an oblate spheroid. The earth has this figure, the shorter 
 diameter being along its present axis. We formerly inferred, 
 (sec 4 3), that the earth assumed its present form at the cieation, 
 or when it was in a fluid or semifluid state, in consequence of its 
 motion on its axis. ' If the axis of revolution had been changed 
 subsequently ; after the consolidation of the rocks ; though the 
 water would flow towards the new equator, the solid crust would 
 have become too rigid and unyielding to accommodate itself accu- 
 rately to the new condition of the forces acting upon it. The 
 earth must therefore have revolved before the deluge, in the same 
 manner as at present, and the position of its axis can have under- 
 gone no change at that time. 
 
 But further ; the fossil elephants whose remains are so exten- 
 sively distributed over the globe were of species different from any 
 that now exist, and one species at least was fitted to inhabit a cold 
 climate. The bones themselves show that they belonged to species 
 that are now extinct About the beginning of the present cen- 
 tury, an individual that must have been frozen up soon after its 
 death, was disengaged by the melting of the ice in which it had 
 been enveloped, from a high bank near the mouth of a river in 
 the Dorth of Siberia. The Indian and African elephants are 
 naked. This was furnished with three kinds of hair : one was 
 stiff black bristles a foot or more in length, a second, thinner 
 bristles or coarse flexible hair of a reddish brown color, and the 
 third, course reddish brown wool, which grew among the roots 
 of the long hair. More than thirty pounds weight of the hair 
 
114 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. 
 
 and bristles was gathered from the wet sand bank into which they 
 had been trampled by the white bears whilst devouring the car- 
 cass. This warm and abundant covering indicates, that Siberia 
 was the same cold and frozen region before the deluge as at the 
 present day : in other words that the position of the earth’s axis 
 has not been changed. 
 
 , Burnet represented that the earth consisted originally ofa thin 
 crust covering an abyss of water ; which crust was broken up for 
 the production of the deluge, and formed the mountains by its 
 fragments. Woodward held that this catastrophe was occasioned 
 by a temporary suspension of the attraction of cohesion ; the whole 
 mass of the globe was reduced to a soft paste which became pen- 
 etrated by shells. Deluc’s opinion was, that the sea now occupies 
 the situation of the ancient continents, and that what is now dry 
 land, was, antecedently to the deluge, the bed of thesea. That event 
 was therefore produced by the subsidence of what had been the 
 most elevated parts of the crust of the earth, and the elevation of 
 those which hail been the lowest. 
 
 58. Dr. Buckland, Professor of Geology in the University of 
 Oxford, refuted all these different hypotheses and others with them, 
 at once, and proved that what is dry, inhabited land now, was dry, 
 inhabited land before the deluge : also that at an era that is com- 
 paratively recent in the history of the earth, England was the 
 abode of those races of animals which are seldom found at the pre- 
 sent day, if ever, beyond the limits of the torrid zone. 
 
 In the summer of 1821, some workmen who were engaged in 
 carrying on the operations of a large limestone quarry in the side 
 of a hill near the village of Kirkdale in Yorkshire, Eng., acciden- 
 tally intersected the mouth of a long hole or cavern, closed exter- 
 nally with rubbish, and overgrown with grass and bushes. The 
 bottom of the cavern was covered to the average depth of about 
 a foot, with a bed of soft mud or loom. None of this sediment 
 was found attached to the sides or roof. It was itself covered 
 over with a plating of stalagmite, or that calcareous matter which 
 often forms an incrustation on the sides and bottom of limestone 
 caverns. There was no alternation of layers of stalagmite and 
 loam, but beneath the loam, there was another coating of stalag- 
 mite, reposing upon and covering the bottom of the cavern. On 
 breaking through the upper covering of the sediment, and digging 
 into it, it wag found that all the lower part of it, and also the sta- 
 lagmite beneath, held enveloped an immense quantity of small 
 fragments of bone. The workmen at first supposed them to have 
 belonged to cattle that died of a murrain in this district a few 
 years before, and they were neglected , and thrown upon the roads 
 with the common limestone. At length however they attracted 
 attention, and were found to include the remains of no fewer than 
 twenty three different species of animals — the Hyena, Tiger, Bear, 
 Wolf, Fox, Weasel, Elephant, Rhinoceros, H ippopotamus, Horse, 
 Ox, three species of Deer, Hare, Rabbit, Water-Rat, Mouse, Raven, 
 
kirkdale cave : COMPARATIVE anatomy. 
 
 115 
 
 Pigeon, Lark, Snipe, and a small species of Duck. The bottom 
 of the cavern, when the mud was first removed, was found strewed 
 all over like a dog*kennel, from one end to the other, with hun- 
 dreds of teeth and bones of the animals just enumerated. They 
 were found in the greatest quantity near its mouth, because it 
 was widest there. 
 
 Those of the larger animals, the Elephant, Rhinoceros, etc., 
 were found co-extensively with the rest, in the inmost and small- 
 est recesses. 
 
 Here a difficulty may arise in the mind of the student to whom 
 the subject is new. How is it possible amongst such a mass of 
 fragments of bone, to distinguish those of a particular animal, 
 or to determine that the remains of 23 different species, are asso- 
 ciated in the same cave ? It is no part of our purpose to deliver 
 instructions in comparative anatomy, but some general ideas may 
 be given of the manner in which the investigation, (prosecuted 
 with more zeal and success by Cuvier than by any other indi- 
 vidual), is carried on. 
 
 It is evident on the slightest consideration of the subject, that 
 animalsdifTer in their osteology, not much less than in their exter- 
 nal appearance. The skull of an ox will be distinguished from 
 that of a horse, by a person of the most ordinary capacity, and 
 with nearly as much ease, as the living animals themselves to 
 which they severally belonged. On a more careful examination, 
 a marked difference would be apparent, between the bones of the 
 limbs, as well as those of the head. It is also evident that the 
 dissimilarity in the bones of the limbs must be far greater, when 
 herbivorous and carnivorous animals are compared ; the horse 
 for example with the lion. T he legs of the horse are fitted for 
 motion in one plane, from which there is never any very great 
 deviation. In those of the lion there is required a freer motion, 
 that he may leap and bound in any direction, and bend his paws 
 for the seizure of his prey. Any intelligent person, with some 
 experience in this kind of investigation, would determine from 
 the articulations of the joints, to which of the two races an ani- 
 mal whose bone he held in his hand had belonged. 15ut by those 
 who have made comparative anatomy their particular study, it is 
 found on a minute examination ; that the skeleton not only of 
 each great class, but of every genus and species, has peculiarities 
 of its own, and that these peculiarities extend through the whole 
 frame, so that it is asserted that with a single bone before him, a 
 skilful anatomist, will be able to reconstruct the animal. If it 
 belong to a species still living on the earth, he will be able to 
 designate that species. If it belongs to a species that is extinct, 
 the anatomist will be able to determine its genus, and he will 
 then proceed to erect it into a new species. If it belong to an 
 extinct genus, he will determine its order, and erect it into a new 
 genus. 
 
 Some exaggeration it may be either suspected or fully believed 
 
116 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EARTH. - 
 
 there is, is these representations, such as it is difficult for a mind 
 warmed with the enthusiasm created by new and important di#r 
 •coverics to avoid altogether, but the consent of the Naturalists of 
 all. countries, proves the great principle asserted in them to be 
 correct and true — that the figure, and manner of life, of a race of 
 animals long since extinct, may be ascertained from the form and 
 structure of their bones. v * 
 
 The science of comparative anatomy has been brought to bear 
 upon the animal remains found in the Kirkdale cave^and it ap- 
 pears that the bones of the 23 species mentioned, are mingled to- 
 gether there. . ' v'.' 
 
 That the drift and bearing of what is immediately to follow.,, 
 may be the better understood, it may be well to state before pro- 
 ceeding farther, the conclusions at which Dr. Buckland arrived 
 respecting this cave — that it was the den of a species of antedilu- 
 vian hyena, and that the bones it contains, are the remains of the 
 animals which the hyenas dragged into it for the purpose of eat- 
 ing them there. - ■ 
 
 The three living species of hyena now known, differ somewhat 
 in their habits, but that which is most common, inhabiting Abys- 
 sina, and other hot countries, preys upon dead carcases, which he 
 devours even to the bones. He sleeps during the day, and prowls 
 about the cities and villages at night, carrying off to his den, any 
 dead animals he may happen to find. He descends into the 
 graves and feeds upon human bodies. .His jaws are more pow- 
 erful than those of any known animal of nearly equal size. Dr. 
 Buckland saw the keeper feed one that was carried for exhibition 
 through England. He gave him bones. The shin bone of an 
 ox he first gnawed at its upper part, and then broke into splint- 
 ers which he swallowed whole, leaving the hard and solid part 
 below the marrow untouched, the shin bone of a sheep, he broke 
 into two pieces, and then swallowed without any mastication. 
 
 From this account of the habits of the hyena, we revert to the 
 contents of the cave. It has been stated that immense quantities 
 of bojiy fragments were found enveloped in the loam, or in the 
 stalagmite. These consist of the harder parts of the skeleton to 
 which they belonged. On many, there are marks which corres- 
 pond exactly to the hyena teeth that lay strewed over the floor 
 of the cavern. The teeth of the various animals were also found 
 in great. quantities, 60 that the number of the teeth, and of the 
 solid bones, of the tarsus, and carpus, was more than twenty 
 times os great as could have been supplied by the individuals 
 whose other bones were found mixed with them. One gentle- 
 man collected more than three hundred canine teeth of the hyena, 
 which must have belonged to at least, seventy-five individuals, 
 and adding to these the canine teeth derived from the same spot, 
 that are in other collections, the whole number of hyenas of 
 whose existence here there is evidence, cannot be estimated at 
 less than two or three hundred. When this fact is viewed "in 
 
ANCIENT ZOOLOGY. 
 
 117 
 
 connexion with the marks of teeth upon the hones, still remain- 
 ing, and we consider further that the cave is so small that it is 
 impossible that an elephant, a hippopotamus, or a rhinoceros, 
 can have entered it ; it is difficult for a candid man to refuse an 
 acquiescence in the conclusions of Buckland — that this cave is a 
 den of antedcluvian hyenas, who brought the bones into it for 
 the purpose of feeding upon them. If so ; it follows that the 
 northern part of England was dry land before the flood, and it 
 becomes very probable that the same is true of the greater part 
 of the existing continents. Caverns containing hones associated 
 a good deal in the same way, though not in equal quantities, are 
 found in France and German) 7 . We may suppose therefore 
 that the deluge destroyed the inhabitants, without altering great- 
 ly the external features of the earth. 
 
 ANCIENT ZOOLOGY. 
 
 59 . The ancient, appears to have been more favourable than the 
 present condition of the earth, to the development of certain 
 forms of animal life. The largest living lizard is the crocodile of 
 the Nile, which when full grown, is from twenty-five to thirty, 
 and individuals have been seen that were perhaps forty feet in 
 length. The Megalosaurus, or Great Lizard, whose hones are 
 imbedded in the strata of Stonesficld, twelve miles from Oxford, 
 England, exceeded by one-third, the largest crocodile. The 
 bones of the Iguanodon, (so called from the structure of his 
 teeth, resembling those of the Iguana, a lizard inhabiting the 
 West Indies, and indicating that he was herbivorous,) have been 
 found in such numbers, in the south-eastern part of England, in 
 Kent, and Sussex, as to furnish data for calculating the average 
 size of this reptile. His length must have been upwards of sixty, 
 and it is supposed that some individuals may have reached an 
 hundred feet. 
 
 Both these are from secondary formations : but it is the ter- 
 tiary strata that afford the most ample materials for instituting a 
 comparison between the zoology of tho ancient, and that of the 
 present earth. 
 
 In the Eocene strata of the Paris Basin, the remains of Mam- 
 malia are found in great quantities — first, or lowest, the 
 marine races, dolphins, lamantins, and morses, and higher up, 
 in the gypsum, terrestrial quadrupeds of the same family, but 
 of extinct genera and species. The extinct genera detected and 
 brought to light by Cuvier, received from him with reference to 
 certain characters they were found to present, the names, of 
 Palneotheriun, Lophiodon, Anoplotheriun, Anthracotheriun, Chre- 
 ropotamus, and Adapis. The remains of extinct species of ex 
 isting genera, indicate a great variety and abundance of animals 
 of the order Pachydermata, including the elephant, rhinoceros, 
 tapir, and camel. 
 
 11 
 
118 
 
 MINERAL GEOOBAPET. 
 
 MINERAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 60. By reason of its connexion with other interesting gubjects of 
 enquiry, the distribution of the rock formations, and of valuable 
 mines, over the surface and through the crust-— the Mineral Ge- 
 ography of the earth, merits a place in a course of liberal study. 
 But to the acquisition of this kind of knowledge, some acquaint- 
 ance with the principles of Geology is indispensable. It is of 
 little use that we be informed that the rocks of a country, are 
 granite, or sandstone, so long as we are ignorant what those sub- 
 stances are ; and what the characters are, which they impart to 
 the scenery and the soil of the region where they prevail. The 
 progress of nations in population, the arts, and wealth, have in 
 all ages been greatly influenced ; and in many cases, the genius, 
 character, and pursuits, of a people determined by the nature of the 
 rocky strata beneath and around them. Civilization and refinement 
 appear to have commenced on the tertiary formations. The fer- 
 tile and easily cultivated alluvial plains of the Euphrates, and the 
 Nile, were selected for permanent settlements by the early in- 
 habitants of the earth, whilst the rugged and barren primitive 
 and transition mountains, were visited only by hunters in pursuit 
 of game. The Greeks would have made little progress in the 
 arts of architecture, statuary, and painting, had the rocks of their 
 country been granite, instead of marble. The relative position 
 of Great Britain amongst the nations of Europe, in regard to 
 wealth, and power, depends very much upon the geological cha- 
 racter of the strata of that island, and especially the number, ex- 
 tent, and riches, of her coal fields. 
 
 Africa. The northern shore of Africa appears to be covered 
 by secondary and tertiary deposits. The ridge of Atlas consists 
 in part of primitive rocks, but their range and extent are not 
 known. The substratum of the great desert of Sahara, is prin- 
 cipally a red sandstone of unknown age: The succession of the 
 
 geological formations that is met with as we descend the valley of 
 Egypt, (granite, sandstone, and limestone,) has been already given 
 JSbc. 35 ) In Abyssinia, the predominant rocks appear to be 
 ^SlSeriss, clay-slate, and the products of volcanos. A range of 
 primitive mountains stretches across the continent near its broad- 
 est part. Southern Africa is not characterized by the prevalence • 
 of rocks of any age, to the exclusion of others, but granite, slate, 
 and sandstone, appear at the surface in succession, at moderate 
 distances. A considerable quantity of gold is collected on both 
 the eastern and western coasts, but with this exception, the val- 
 uable minerals known to exist in Africa, are few, and unimport- 
 ant Mineral coal has not yet been observed in any part of the 
 continent 
 
 J3sia. The great central nucleus of southern Asia, the Him- 
 maleh mountains, is granite, and sends off spurs of the same cha- 
 racter in different directions ; as into Indostan, in the direction 
 
MINERAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 119 
 
 of Cape Comovin, three-fourths of that peninsula, and the whole 
 of Ceylon, being occupied by primitive rocks ; through Birmah, 
 down into the peninsula of Malacca, which abounds in stannif- 
 erous granite ; and finally into China. The tract along the shore 
 of the Arctic ocean is tertiary. About the Caspian is a volcanic 
 region. East of this are the sterile, secondary, plains of Tar- 
 tary, abounding in salt, and farther still ; between the longitudes 
 of 70°, and 90°, another seat of volcanic action. The rocks of 
 Palestine are mostly secondary limestone, but around the sea of 
 Tiberias, and the Dead Sea, (whose surface is 134 3 feet below that 
 of the ocean) are some of volcanic origin. Mount Sinai is a 
 mass of granite. Of the central regions of Asia, we know hardly 
 more than of those of Africa. There are several rich mining 
 districts within the limits of this continent; three within the 
 limits of the Russian Empire, indicating the existence of primi- 
 tive and transition rocks, along the'southern confines of Siberia, 
 and others near the south-eastern coast. The Ural mountains are 
 rich in iron, copper, gold, silver, and platinum, especially on their 
 eastern or Asiatic side. That part of the Altaian mountains from 
 which flow the head waters of the Irtish, contains an abundance 
 of the same metals, (platinum excepted,) but especially of silver. 
 The third district is that of Nertschink, southeast of the lake 
 Baikal. Some of the finest specimens, as well of the earthy 
 minerals, as of the ores of these metals, that give beauty to the 
 cabinet of the mineralogist, are from Siberia. South-eastern Asia 
 yields the precious gems ; India beyond the Ganges, the ruby, 
 and sapphire ; Indostan and Borneo, the diamond. The penin- 
 sula of Malacca, and the island of Banea, contain inexhaustible 
 stores of tin ; nearly all the antimony of commerce comes from 
 Borneo. 
 
 Europe. A large .part of Europe is covered by tertiary de- 
 posits. This is true of Holland, the kingdom of Hanover, Prus- 
 sia, Poland, and much of Russia, but near the southern border of 
 all 'these, except Holland, rocks of an earlier period make their 
 appearance. Sweden and Norway are mostly primitive, and 
 from their southern extremity, we may suppose the elevated edge 
 of a basin, of the same character, and including the central states, 
 to be continued under the sea, through the western part of Scot- 
 land, England, and Ireland, the provinces of Brittanny and Au- 
 vergne in France, the Alps, and ancient Mcesia, and Thrace. 
 Much of Bohemia is also primitive. The same secondary and 
 tertiary strata which occur at low levels, and in a horizontal po- 
 sition, in England, are elevated and inclined at high angles, along 
 the sides of the Alps, proving that these mountains have risen 
 to their present height, since" the secondary strata of England be- 
 gan to be deposited. But of the mineral geography of the dif- 
 ferent kingdoms of Europe, a more particular account must be- 
 given. 
 
 Ireland. Groups and ranges of primitive and transition moun 
 
120 
 
 MINERAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 tains extending nearly round the island, inclose a central district 
 of secondary formations. More than one-seventh of its surface 
 is covered by bogs of turf, or peat, from 5, to 30 feet in thick- 
 ness. As the coal of Ireland is neither abundant nor good, peat 
 is generally employed by the inhabitants for fuel. Most of the 
 bogs are in the midland counties. In the northern part of the 
 island, is a body of basalt, covering an area of 800 square miles, one 
 of the beds of which having formed in cooling an assemblage of 
 regular fissures, constitutes what is called the Giant’s Causeway. 
 The pieces of silicified wood that are found in, and about, Lough 
 Neah, have given origin to the fable that the hones in common 
 use, are manufactured, by cutting pieces of hickory, so as to be 
 composed partly of sap, and partly of heart wood, and immersing 
 them in its waters. Gold has been found in Ireland, also small 
 quantities of lead, and zinc, and a larger amount of copper the 
 latter especially at Allahies in the county of Cork, but the mine- 
 ral wealth of this island is not very considerable. 
 
 Scotland. Nearly the whole of the northern part of this 
 kingdom, comprehending the Highlands, and the isles, is occu- 
 pied by the most ancient primitive rocks ; granite, gneiss, and 
 mica slate, which at some points are covered by formations of 
 sandstone, and at others give place to more recent rocks, of ig- 
 neous origin. In its southern part, are transition strata, and be- 
 tween the two, are extensive coal formations, extending across 
 the island, on both sides of the Clyde and Forth, and the princi- 
 pal seat of the manufacturing industry of Scotland. The coal is 
 accompanied as in England, by clay iron stone, giving rise to im- 
 portant establishments for the manufacture of iron. The lead 
 mines of Lanarkshire, are inconsiderable in comparison with 
 those of England, Spain, and the United States. 
 
 England. The more recent strata in the middle and south- 
 eastern counties, from the old red sandstone upwards, have been 
 sufficiently noticed and described. The older rocks are in the 
 west, and the oldest primitive are rare. In the granite and schist 
 of Devonshire, and Cornwall, but especially in the latter county, 
 are very productive mines of tin, and copper. The lead mines 
 are mostly in the northern counties, Northumberland, Cumber- 
 land, and Durham ; also in Derbyshire and Flintshire, in the 
 oldest secondary limestone and the associated beds, which also 
 yield considerable quantities ofzinc, and manganese. Iron, copper, 
 tin, lead, zinc, and manganese, are the metals furnished to com- 
 merce by the mines of England. 
 
 France. There is a large body of primitive rocks in the 
 North-western corner of France, in ancient Brittanny, and on the 
 lower waters of the Loire ; a second in the Pyrenees ; a third in 
 the centre of the kingdom, amongst the head waters of the Loire 
 and the Garonne — the seat in ancient times of volcanic action ; 
 a fourth along the western declivities of the Alps — and a fifth, 
 which is of small extent, in the Vosges, near Strasburg and the 
 
MINERAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 121 
 
 Rhine. Winding amongst these, embracing them, and interlock- 
 ed with them, and with each other, in various ways, are the form- 
 ations of more recent date. The tertiary deposits of the Paris 
 basin, and of the Garonne, have been mentioned. Another is 
 remarkable for occupying a depression in the central primitive 
 plateau, upon which it reposes directly, without the intervention 
 of any other rock. Mines of iron, lead, copper, and antimony, 
 are wrought in several different places, in or near the primitive 
 formations, but with the exception of antimony, the metal obtain- 
 ed is not sufficient to supply the wants of the kingdom. 
 
 Spain and Portugal. Less is known of their geology, than 
 of that of any other part of Europe, Turkey excepted. Ranges 
 of primitive mountains extend through the central parts of the 
 Peninsula; the province of Galicia is also primitive. But the 
 Cantabrian chain, on the north, and the Sierras Morena and Ni- 
 vada in the south, are formed of more recent rocks. There is an 
 abundance of excellent iron ore in the province of Biscay, and 
 coal in Asturias ; but the part of Spain most favoured by nature, 
 is that lying within the limits of the ancient kingdom of Grana- 
 da. Here are the quicksilver mines of Almaden, in clay slate, 
 yielding a greater amount of that metal than all the other mines 
 of the world, and the mines of Adra, which fix the price of lead 
 throughout the continent of Europe. 
 
 Switzerland. Its granite, and secondary limestone mountains 
 (Jura) have been mentioned. A tertiary formation called by the 
 Swiss geologists (the molasse) extends from the lake of Geneva, 
 to a north-easterly direction, to that of Constance. There are salt 
 mines at Bex. 
 
 Italy. Except near its northern extremity, and in the neigh- 
 borhood of the Alps, there are no primitive rocks in Italy, nor 
 has it any valuable mines. The Appenines are a ridge of second- 
 ary limestone, with tertiary deposits on each side; Corsica, Sardinia 
 and Elba, are mostly primitive, and the latter has been celebrated 
 from a remote antiquity for its mines of iron. The greater part of 
 Sicily is of recent origin. It is from the Solfatara near Naples, 
 and the tertiary blue clay of this island, that Europe is supplied 
 with sulphur. 
 
 Germany — Central Europe The shores of the North Sea, 
 
 and the Baltic, to a considerable distance inland, are low and level 
 tertiary deposits. Throughout the greater part of Belgium, the 
 whole of Holland, Hanover. Denmark, the northern part of Prus- 
 sia, including more than half of the kingdom, Poland as it was 
 before its dismemberment, and much of European Russia, we find 
 tertiary clays and sands, of very different composition, and un- 
 equal fertility, in different places, but bearing everywhere a con- 
 siderable resemblance to the low country of North Carolina. 
 There is probably a greater extent of sterile soil in Prussia, than 
 |n any other part of this area. 
 
 South of the tertiary, the older rocks come in. forming one of 
 
 11 * 
 
122 
 
 MINERAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 the rich mining districts of the world. The most of Bohemia 
 and Saxony is primitive. Southern Belgium has mines of zinc, 
 lead, and copper : the Hartz yield iron, lead, silver, copper, zinc, 
 and manganese : Saxony and Bohemia, silver, lead, cobalt, tin, 
 copper, iron, arsenic, and bismuth : Silesia, iron, zinc, arsenic, 
 ailver, lead, and copper. Of the Austrian possessions ; Hungary 
 affords the precious metals, lead, copper, and tellurium : the south- 
 ern provinces, (Styria Carinthia and Illyria) iron, zinc, quick- 
 silver, lead, and copper. The amber of commerce is brought 
 from Prussia, and is either thrown up by the Baltic, or dug from 
 the earth, at no great distance from its shores, 
 
 Sweden and Norway are mostly primitive. They furnish 
 copper ; and iron, of the very best quality that is made. The 
 Swedish iron is imported into England, and employed to the ex- 
 clusion of every other in the manufacture of steel. 
 
 * America . Our knowledge of the geology of the western conti- 
 nent, is of course limited and imperfect. The primitive rocks 
 have attracted attention by the peculiarities of their composition 
 and structure. The relative extent of surface occupied by them, 
 appears to be rather greater here than in the other quarters of the 
 globe. Interspersed amongst the primitive, and covering them, 
 formations of more recent orgin, slates, and fragmented strata, 
 are widely distributed, but little is known of their position, or 
 ■ their age, as compared with the transition, secondary, and ter- 
 tiary, beds of England, France, or Germany. A range of moun- 
 tains extends through the whole length of the continent, the de- 
 pressions being greater where the land is narrowest, ( in Central 
 America) than elsewhere. At a number of points, it is, or has 
 been, the seat of volcanic action. The fundamental rock of both 
 the Andes and the Rocky Mountains, appears to be some one of 
 those that sre called primitive, and especially granite, but these 
 are covered by others of more recent date — porphyry, obsidian, 
 trachyte, whose igneous origin is undoubted. It is on the flanks, 
 or near the summit of this great mountain range, or where it spreads 
 out into a body of table land, that the mines of the precious metals 
 for which America is so much celebrated occur. Chili yields sil- 
 ver, and a great abundance of copper ; Bolivia and Peru, silver, 
 gold, and mercury ; Central America, gold and silver, and Mexi- 
 co the same, but especially silver. Brazil which is wdaely but 
 not exclusively primitive, is famous for the value of the precious 
 stones rather than of the precious metals, that it sends ioto the 
 market of the world. 
 
 United States. Five principal formations require notice with- 
 in the settled parts of our country. 1. The Primitive, covering 
 nearly the whole of New England, and extending from thence 
 through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, near Philadel- 
 phia, and Maryland (in which state it is narrow) central Virginia, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, into Alabama. 
 It is also continued northward beyond the limits of the United 
 
MINERAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 123 
 
 States, across the lower waters of the St. Lawrence, into Labra- 
 dor, and is covered by No. 5 through a distance of about thirty 
 miles, north ofTrenton, in New Jersey, so as to form at the sur- 
 face two separate bodies of rock. 2. West of this is a transition 
 formation, commencing in Canada, occupying the western part of 
 Vermont, embracing as it advances towards the south-west, the 
 larger part of the Alleghany mountains, but not extending much 
 beyond them, and containing in Pennsylvania immense beds of 
 anthracite coal. 3. Farther west still, are the secondary strata of 
 the valley of the Mississippi, through which the primitive Ozark 
 mountains protrude, in the states of Arkansas and Missouri. 4. 
 The tertiary distinct on the sea board. 5. The body of sandstone 
 and trap, commencing in New Hampshire, and extending with in- 
 terruptions into South Carolina. The richest metalliferous dis- 
 trict within the territory of the United States, is in the Territory 
 of Wisconsin, and the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri, in all 
 of which are immense quantities of lead ore, imbedded in an an- 
 cient secondary limestone. The iron Mountain in Missouri, 300 
 feet high, and two miles in circumference, is a mass of the secu- 
 lar oxide of iron. 
 
 GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Gl. Tertiary Strata. An obvious and striking feature in the 
 geology of North Carolina, is, the division of the state by a line 
 running in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction, into two 
 parts, of nearly equal extent, but. differing widely from each other, 
 in composition, structure, soil, and vegetation. One is a region of 
 fixed rocks, without organic remains, and covered its natural state, 
 with forests of oak, hickory, and other trees, having deciduous 
 leaves ; the other made up of beds of clay and sand, with immense 
 quantities of shells imbedded in them, and the favorite habitat of 
 the long leaved pine. From the first settlement of the country, 
 till within a few years, the received opinion has been, that the 
 low-country as well of North Carolina as of the other Atlantic 
 states, has been gradually thrown up by the waves, and gained from 
 the sea. This view of its origin is proved to be untenable by dif- 
 ferent facts and agreements. 
 
 1. By its elevation above the bed of the ocean. The surveys 
 that were instituted with reference to the construction of the Wil- 
 mington rail road, show an elevation of the general surface of 
 Duplin County, of between one hundred, and two hundred feet, 
 above the height of mean tide at Wilmington. But Duplin is one 
 of the lower counties. The court house is not more than 35 
 miles in a direct line from the sea, whilst it is upwards of 60 
 miles from the upper limit of the sand ; and throughout the latter 
 distance, the ground constantly rises, as is proved by the fall of 
 the streams, which is also more rapid and considerable, as vv.e ap- 
 proach their sources. The general elevation of the upper border 
 
124 
 
 GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 of the sand, cannot be estimated at less then from three, to four, 
 hundred feet above the level of the sea. From Carthage in Moore 
 County, there is sand uninterruptedly to the coast, and although 
 there has been no accurate measurement of its altitude, data for an 
 approximate estimate are furnished, by what is known of the fall 
 of our rivers in the lower parts of their courses, the estimates by 
 Fulton of the fall in the Cape Fear, between Fayetteville and 
 Haywood, at the mouth of Deep River, the amount of fall in Deep 
 River for 20 miles above Haywood, and the elevation of Car- 
 thage above the bed of that stream. Carthage cannot be less than 
 400, and is prohaly 500 feet, above the level of the ocean. It 
 can hardly be necessary to remark, that no amount of clay or sand, 
 and much less a quantity sufficient to form the soil of whole coun- 
 ties, can have been carried by the waves to these heights. 
 
 2. By the constitution and structure of the strata in question. 
 They are composed of layers of clay and sand, superimposed one 
 upon another, in a position approaching the horizontal. The clay is 
 foliated, often in leaves of extreme thinness, and fineness, and 
 sometimes with a thin layer of sand interposed, indicating that 
 they were deposited from turbid water, that was tranquil, if not 
 at the surface, at least at the depths where the deposition took 
 place. Their appearance is such as could not have been produ- 
 ced by that tumultuous action of the waves, by which it is sup- 
 posed that banks of clay and sand may have been thrown up. 
 
 3. By the condition of the shells, and other organic remains. 
 They are in a state of perfect preservation, so far at least as their 
 forms are concerned. The original cohesion of the particles com- 
 posing them , has been partially lost, so that they are easily broken, 
 but they exhibit the markings peculiar to each, the furrows, and 
 processes, by which the different species are distinguished, as per- 
 fectly, as when the animal wasstill living. Shells that are tossed 
 by the waves upon the beach are 60 on worn smooth, and if not 
 ground down to a fine powder, lose most of their distinctive cha- 
 racters. They also become mixed, irregularly, and in every variety 
 of position, with one another, and with the clay and sand, in 
 which they are imbedded. But the shells of the low countr^ 
 evidently occupy the original places in which the animals lived 
 and died. The different kinds, if not confined to a particular 
 bed or part of a bed, are more numerous at particular points, and 
 with such mixture only of the species, as obtains amongst the 
 living races of the present ocean. 
 
 The low country was therefore once the bed of the sea, how 
 has it become dry land? The appearances can be accounted for 
 only upon the supposition, that it has like other parts of the ex- 
 isting continents, been raised above the level of the ocean, by a 
 force exerted, and probably more than once exerted,' from be- 
 neath. 
 
 It is evident on examination, that the sand, and clay, once co- 
 vered the country more extensively than they do now : that the 
 
TERTIARY STRATA. 
 
 125 
 
 fixed rocks were originally hidden by them quite up to the high- 
 est limit of the sand, that it was all sand and clay as far as a line 
 extending from the western part of Warren, through Franklin, 
 the south-eastern part of Wake, the northern part of Cumberland, 
 a corner of Chatham, the centre of Moore, the south-eastern part 
 of Montgomery, northern part of Richmond, and eastern of 
 Anson. This was, at least for some time, the line of the sea 
 beach, but after the low country had emerged from the waves, 
 by the combined agency of rain water, rushing into the streams, 
 and of the streams themselves, acting upon their banks and 
 beds, the original coating of clay and sand was swept off, and 
 transported to some point lower down. The result was, the for- 
 mation of a broad belt of unequal width, but generally from 30 to 
 40 miles across, having sand especially, and some clay — the strata 
 of the low country, and long leaved pine, on the high grounds, 
 and stiff land of greater fertility, fixed rocks, and woods of oak 
 and short leaved pine, in the neighbourhood of the creeks and ri- 
 vers. We find therefore, granite, slate, and other rocks, spa- 
 ringly distributed, and near the water courses in the interior of 
 the sand. The small streams rise in the sand hills, and disclose 
 the subjacent rocks only in the lower part of their courses. This 
 is true for example of Upper and Lower Little Rivers in Cum- 
 berland, Drowning Creek in Moore, and Hitchcock’s, Solomon’s, 
 and Marks’ Cre ^kc , i n R i« hm -on4_ In <1 acnflnilin> the COlintFy from 
 Raleigh towards Newbern, we strike the sand at the distance of 5 
 or 6 miles from the city, and have entered fully upon it at the 
 distance of ten miles, but the subjacent rock rises to the surface 
 many miles below : at three points at least around Waynesboro’, 
 viz: at Micajah Coxe’s on the Raleigh road, on the opposite side of 
 the Neuse a mile or two east of Falling Creek, and at the distance 
 of seven miles on the road to Stantonsburg; so that Waynesboro’, 
 though there are no fixed rocks immediately at that place, may 
 be taken as a centre for the lowest limit, of fixed rocks on the 
 j Neuse. From the Virginia line to Waynesboro’, this limit as very 
 1 ne#r to the route of the rail road ; at Halifax, on the Roanoke, the 
 j Falls, on Tar River ; and 6 miles above Stantonsburgh on the 
 1 Cotentney. It is a little below Averysboro’ on the Cape Fear, 
 
 ; near the southern limit of Moore on Drowning Creek, and a little 
 | below the South Carolina line on the Pedee. Loose slate rocks 
 are so abundant near the Cape Fear, opposite to Fayetteville, that 
 the existence of a body of them very near to, if not at, the sur- 
 face, may be strongly suspected, and a discovery of them may 
 hereafter carry the line farther down. 
 
 This wide belt is to the geologist the least interesting part of 
 | the state. The clay and sand contains, with a very few unimpor- 
 i tant exceptions, no organic remains, or imbedded minerals, whilst 
 j they cover the older rocks, and render it impossible to observe 
 1 and study them. What those rocks are, will be stated hereafter. 
 It affords an excellent material for the manufacture of bricks, and 
 
126 
 
 GEOLOOT OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 coarse pottery, and sand for mortar. There is also on the edge 
 of Tossnot swamp, in Nash, a bed of bog iron ore in this forma- 
 tion. It is generally about five feet beneath the surface, IS inches 
 thick, and with lumps, or nodular masses, of the same, above. 
 Iron of an indifferent quality was manufactured from it at a forge 
 on the Big Swamp, in 1814-15, and a part of 181 G, when the 
 forge was burnt. The quantity of the ore is not such as to war- 
 rant the expectation that the enterprize will be renewed. 
 
 Below the limits of the fixed rocks, the same associations and al- 
 ternations of clay and sand are continued, with the addition, either 
 there, or at no great distance below, of marine organic remians. 
 The upper limit of these, is at Murfreesboro’ on the Meherrin, 
 Scotland Neck on Roanoke, near Enfield on Fishing Creek, a little 
 below the Falls on Tar River, at Bass’s Ferry (a small quantity) 
 on the Neuse and 12 miles above Elizabeth on the Cape Fear. 
 None have been observed within the limits of the state, on Lum- 
 ber River. They occur at intervals from the points just na- 
 med to the ocean. 
 
 Maclure, in a sketch or outline of tne geology of the United 
 States, prepared thirty years ago, represents as one alluvial for- 
 mation, a tract commencing at the eastern extremity of Long Is- 
 land, and extending through the Middle and Southern Atlantic 
 States, embracing the whole of the south-eastern half of North 
 Carolina that is now the subject of remark. But it has been as- 
 certained that different and distant parts of this district, are unlike 
 each other, in age and character. So much of it as lies within the 
 limits of the state of New Jersey, isproved by the imbedded fos- 
 sils, to be contemporaneous with the cretaceous system of Europe. 
 There are only a few small patches of tertiary in that state. In 
 Maryland the tertiary formations come in in great force, occu- 
 pying both sides of the Chesapeake bay, and passing through Vir- 
 ginia, are represented as attaining their greatest width in North 
 Carolinia, and to be succeeded by secondary formations in the low- 
 country of South Carolina. But the tertiary of North Carolina, 
 is different from that of the stales lying north-east of it, exhibiting a 
 much larger proportion of recent shells — species of which the ani- 
 mal is still living on the coast. The proportion of living species 
 in the deposits of Maryland and Virginia, is about 20, whilst in 
 those of North Carolina, it rises as high as 50 or 60 per cent.* 
 
 * For these facts, and of course for the conclusions drawn from them, the 
 geologist is compelled to acknowledge himself indebted to the Conchologists, 
 and to Mr. T. A. Conrad of Philadelphia, more largely than to any other indi- 
 vidual. Two boxes of shelL have been forwarded by the writer for exami- 
 nation by him, from the valley of the Cape Fear; one from Walker’s Bluff, in 
 Bladen, and the other from the natural well in Duplin, from which, in part, the in- 
 ferences just stated were drawn. If it be enquired why greater activity has 
 not been displayed in collecting and forwarding the materials for determining 
 the geological era of a large portion of the 6tate, it may be replied, that the 
 University is at a distance of between 70 and 80 miles in a straight line, from 
 the nearest fossil shell. 
 
TERTIARY STRATA. 
 
 127 
 
 The applications and uses of shell marl as a fertilizer of the 
 soil are well known ; but some caution is necessary in drawing 
 inferences from the facts stated in the various agricultural papers 
 that have been published in regard to its effects. It is essential 
 to its usefulness, that the shells be in a state of decay, so as readily 
 to fall to pieces, and mingle in the condition of a fine powder 
 with the soil, and so far as their value as a fertilizing agent is con- 
 cerned, it is unfortunate, that most of the shells of North Caro- 
 lina belong to the Pliocene, rather than the Eocene, or Miocene 
 eras. In many cases the original cohesion of their particles is 
 scarcely impaired, and they are comparatively worthless. Cen- 
 turies may elapse, before they shall be brought to resemble the 
 older marls of the present day.* 
 
 The comparative newness of the tertiary strata of North Caro- 
 lina, the much greater proportion of recent or living species 
 found in them, indicates, that an elevating force has been exerted 
 beneath the eastern part of this state, at a later date than on any 
 other part of the coast. Such Pliocene beds as are still reposing 
 beneath the waters of the ocean, off the shores of the states north 
 and south of us, have here, been raised above the surface, and are 
 cultivated soil. The centre of the disturbance appears to have 
 been somewhere amongst the lower waters of the Neuse and Tar. 
 On looking at a map of the United States, it will be seen that 
 North Carolina projects pretty far beyond the general range of 
 the coast. The capes and shoals that render a voyage from New 
 York to Charleston, so long and dangerous, may be regarded as 
 one of the results of these later geological changes. 
 
 When however the upheaving of the south-eastern counties, 
 and their elevation above the waters of the ocean, are spoken of 
 as recent events, it is to be understood that they are such, only 
 in reference to other changes in the crust and surface of the earth. 
 Since their occurrence, whole races of animals have perished and 
 disappeared, and new ones been created to supply their places, 
 some new species of vegetables have been called into being, and 
 time enough has elapsed, to allow of the dissemination of others 
 from their original seats, so uniformly, over the new contiguous 
 j surface, that no difference is discoverable between the old and new 
 
 : habitats, in regard to either the number, or the variety, of the in- 
 
 [ dividuals that occupy the soil. The pines are as widely and as 
 
 V 
 
 | 
 
 ♦To the Conchologist, the very circumstance which deprives them of value 
 j in the estimation of the farmer, gives them additional interest and beauty. 
 
 1 The finest collection I ever saw, was one made by my friend and former pu- 
 pil, Richard Evans, Esq., of Greenville, in Pitt County, whilst raising marl 
 from the bank of the Tar, to be applied to the soil, and of which I have not 
 heard that any essential benefits were derived from it. Upon the students of 
 the University who shall hereafter be settled in the region of these interesting 
 remains, the duty may be earnestly enjoined of lending their aid to these in- 
 vestigations. A box of shells carefully selected, well packed, and forwarded, 
 will be a valuable contribution to the science of Geology. 
 
GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 125 
 
 densely distributed over the Pliocene formations of North Caro- 
 lina, as over the secondary, or Eocene of South Carolina or Vir- 
 ginia. The Elephant and Mammoth, and apparently no incon- 
 siderable menageries of other animals, which either were pastured 
 in the upper counties, and floated down the rivers after death, or 
 more probably, lived and died, near where their bones were found, 
 have disappeared, the one from the western continent, the other 
 from the earth. 
 
 Several teeth and other bones of the Mastodon or Mammoth 
 were found 25 years since, during the excavation of the Clubfoot 
 and Harlow canal, some of which are now in the cabinet of the 
 University. \Ve have also the grinder of an Elephant, found 
 in the marl pits of the late Lucas Ucnncrs, Esq., 1G miles below 
 Newbern, and other teeth not yet determined. The same pits 
 afforded also, what were supposed by Mr. Croom to be fragments 
 of the horns, hoof, and grinders, of a fossil elk. 
 
 The only metallic substances that have been found within the 
 limits of these deposits, are some of the ores of iron ; the bisul- 
 phuret, hydrated oxide, and sulphate, or copperas. The first, occurs 
 imbedded in a tenacious blue clay, and though well characterized 
 when taken from the earth, is changed by exposure to the air, and 
 converted by the absorption of oxygen, into the sulphate. In 
 the bank of the Ncusc at Waynesboro’, is a mass of small branch- 
 es of trees, that have been metallized by the substitution of this 
 ore of iron, for the original woody fibre. Lignite, — wood that 
 has been changed into coal, is common. 
 
 G‘2. The soil of the tertiary region is of very unequal fertility, un- 
 known causes having produced an accumulation of sand on some 
 points, and of clay, or of that mixture of sand, clay and lime- 
 stone that forms good land, on others. The best body of land 
 belonging properly to this formation, is undoubtedly on the north- 
 ern side of the Albemarle Sound, — the incunabula gentis, or spot 
 on which the first permanent settlements in North Carolina were 
 made. What the relative ages arc, of the belt of mixed charac- 
 ter, having fixed rocks in the beds of the streams, and sand and clay 
 or the high grounds, and of these strata, that are certainly ter- 
 tiary ; whether they were produced by the same causes, or by 
 different causes, we have no means of determining. 
 
 Secondary Strata. A formation of a different character, and 
 as is proved by the shells imbedded in it, of much greater age, 
 contemporaneous with the marls of New-Jersey, and the creta- 
 ceous system of Europe, underlies the tertiary, in the southern 
 part of the state, and crops out at intervals, from the easternpart 
 of Jones County, to the Cape Fear. It is well exhibited at Wil- 
 mington, with the shells of the tertiary reposing directly upon 
 it. Where it presents itself at the surface, the soil is generally 
 characterized by a much higher degree of fertility. The greater 
 proportion of good land in Jones, depends upon the fact that this 
 formation is largely developed there. The rich lands of Onslow, 
 
&ECOSTDA&T STBATA. 
 
 C^.129 
 
 i00lsP- Ro*&yPoiot0n New-Hanover, owe their exeelleS^tS^tbe 
 
 by affordingiime to the soil, though .V- i; 
 nf-'tftfipmu*t' be considerable, but also' by presenting at *'•• 
 
 --»- ■ * a I il - '-vv'WL X i-ir J . .1 C 
 
 ’not im probably^ie^asce rtained ? he rta fter, that 
 'thif.Jprmatl oh has; a •mbweatcnsive' rah^ar tbrou gh Greeny,' 3>u- 
 Sampson, thin 'has hitherto been supposed.' -Tri the two 
 feter^counties eit»eially, s: as on the- Five Runs, and Goshen 
 sS^4iWpi^he ’Whoie''a8pect of the country; and the characters pf 
 ^^«oU,^are^differertt from ^yrhat'is'obfleryed^ '^'j^ose''|»|tiF^at 
 
 ^^here'the sheifs^^thi^o^atlori 'were imbedded in siliceous 
 been' dissolved in the course of ages, by the 
 y^tptycharged with -a- small quantity'of carbonic acid'Tleriyed 
 ®®aFi^^trnbsjjhefe/tKat : has' fl(3^ved' over them, and the' calcar 
 ■ '-'^a^|^j^11»fr''ha*^€Scended untilit met with the silica, when' it 
 la*'t^» i aTTe"sted, r 'and ' has entered into that imperfect combina- 
 Gon-Witlv that substance', whtch conStitutes'mortar. The.result 
 tSi e-pretty firm-rock, hard enough' to give fire with steel; and full 
 p^cavltie^-idAi^ ; ehelle have been , an aggregate, not of shells, 
 but^of^castsorkhells. * This is quarried and cut into mill-stoh’es, 
 Tnbst^bf -xvhieh are small, and tutli^bf^ahd,'bht : some’ of the 
 dize cihplbyed-WH^iSe there Hs~a command of water power.' They 
 Answer- tolerably -weHy butnrre -deficient-in- hafd ifess. '* 
 iKtWhen there ialfttle or no sand,' WA have r at' isdxhe pointaaisim- 
 pie accumulation -ofshetl s ; for m in g^a'godd'l im esto n e," sufficiently 
 The 'common purposes of building, and of which it 
 ftright^be'expected that it would supple s large extent of eountry 
 with ^Uichlime. ^lSarelHs that nine -miles bblow Wayhesbord^p 
 fhATibrth^west -cdrfietr of Jones, in the northern part of Onslow, 
 ,A#Witmihgtonpand on the N. W. branch of the Cape Fear, to 
 ^feb’^^nce of Tortymiles above.'^But'Ihir enterprizeijhaS'bAen 
 
 It'^csldSi^paftntly answer no good purpose -to“poi nt it out again, 
 aa'A'^SeTd' of industry,- that promises to Teward amply whoever 
 ehal^havb the spirit to enter in and cultivate it. / ^ \'.Z 7 - 
 
 ^O/^he^ Middle 1 and r Western 1 CdiinliesZ The ; north-western v 
 
 altbgether^oTrocks - that at an early 
 , ppf'i^^fi^He^cairth^s' history were brought into the positions they 
 nbw>Pebupy ; and of the soil that has been formed upon them, 
 
 ' by#^e^ ; decayf and disintegrati<m : ^bf ; : rocks T pf 'the same^ldod. 
 
 of foreign-matter that has been broughfln 
 fronrabiroadjinany part of this region, That'which has been caused 
 by 'Tain-water ru s h in g down the siderof the hills, and the beds of 
 tbe*(Si^m9f- Alone exceptedv^ The evidence of this is furnished 
 by the facts, that the gravel'is all angular and sharp, and that the 
 cnaranters-'of :the : .soil, constantly .vary, with those of the subja- 
 cent rock. A very , few appearances there are that are difficult 
 
 12 
 
130 
 
 GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 to account for, one for example on the eastern side of the Yad- 
 kin, near the road leading from Lexington to Salisbury ; but the 
 person who shall examine the country extensively, will be satis- 
 fied of the truth of the proposition here stated. In treating far- 
 ther of the geology of North Carolina we have to notice, 
 
 1. Two bodies or formations of sandstone. 
 
 2. Three bodies of transition slate rocks. 
 
 3. Five bodies of primitive rocks. 
 
 Sandstones. A formation of sandstone with trap rocks asso- 
 ciated, has been mentioned, as extending from the northern part 
 of Massachusetts, with interruptions, into South Carolina (section 
 21.) Its range and extent in North Carolina will be seen by a 
 reference to the map. Commencing in Granville 3 or 4 miles south- 
 east of Oxford, it passes through Orange and Wake, Chatham 
 and Moore, Montgomery and Richmond, and A nson ; but through 
 some part of Moore, Montgomery, and Richmond, it is covered 
 by tertiary sands and clays. It is of course traversed by four of 
 the large rivers of the state, the Tar, Neuse, Cape Fear and Pedee. 
 Its upper boundary crosses Tar River at Robards’ Mill, the streams 
 that form the Neuse, three or four miles above their confluence, 
 the Cape Fear and Deep rivers a little above Haywood, Deep 
 River a second time, three or four miles bc-low Evans’ bridge, 
 and a third time, above the mouth of Richland creek, and the 
 Pedee a little below the mouth of Rocky River. On the Tar, 
 its width is not more than six or seven miles. Its lower limit 
 on the Neuse, is a little above the mouth of New Light creek 
 in Wake, about the mouth of Buckhorn on the Cape Fear, and 
 above the Grassy islands on the Pedee. From thence it passes 
 by Wadesboro’* into South Carolina, Brown creek running its 
 whole course in this formation. It approaches to within a mile 
 of the University, and has a breadth of between 15 and 16 miles, 
 on the road leading from Chapel Hill to Raleigh, meeting the 
 primitive of Wake, on the south side of Crabtree, at a distance 
 of about half a mile from that stream. It is nowhere much wider, 
 and generally narrower than where this road crosses. It has less 
 elevation than the formations on each side of it, so that as we 
 approach it, we seem to come to the edge of a broad valley. 
 From the hill on which the University stands, the prospect is 
 extensive towards the east, and south-east, but limited in the op- 
 posite direction. Its upper surface may be about 400 feet above 
 the sea, and though everywhere gently undulating, it nowhere 
 rises into hills of any considerable height. Throughout its whole 
 extent, there is probably no one, that is more than 200 or 250 
 feet above the general level. 
 
 The principal constituent of this formation is a fine-grained, 
 greyish, or reddish sandstone, whose particles are cemented by 
 
 * There is in Richmond County, between Catleges’ and Mountain creeks, 
 a body of the same kind of rocks, but whether connected with the other, ora 
 separate and independent mass has not been ascertained. 
 
SANDsTONF.S. 
 
 131 
 
 a mixtdre of clay and oxide of iron, and which produces by its 
 decomposition, a soil of very moderate fertility ; more favoura- 
 ble to the growth of corn, and cotton, and especially of the sweet 
 potatoe, than to that of wheat. In its native state, it is distin- 
 guished from the country west of it, by a growth of short-leaved 
 pine. The south-eastern part of Orange is known as the piney 
 woods. In some places the relative quantity of the clay and iron 
 is greatly increased, and their results are argillaceous sandstone, 
 or slate clay, decomposing into a very dark, liver-coloured soil, 
 which is also characteristic of this formation. Such lands are li- 
 able to wash when brought under cultivation, and the roads 
 through them are execrable in a wet season. These different 
 sandstones, are interspersed, and traversed, by masses and dykes 
 of trap, commonly called iron rocks, some of which are crystal- 
 line in their structure, and others a fine homogeneous paste, ap- 
 proaching nearly in its characters to basalt. 
 
 The rivers that flow through this body of sandstone, have very 
 little fall in this part of their course ; the low grounds as well 
 upon them, as upon the smaller water-courses that are altogether 
 within the limits of this formation, are wide, but inclined to be 
 cold and “ crawfishy,” and liable to overflow, where the streams 
 break down from the formations next to be noticed into the sand- 
 stone, producing a greater elevation of the ground, and a mixture 
 of soils of different kinds, one, two, three, or more very good 
 plantations are formed. The property of Messrs. Bennahan, and 
 Cameron, on the waters of Neuse, of Mrs. Patterson, on New 
 Hope, of Cheek, Barbee, and the Morgans, close by the Univer- 
 sity, of the vicinity of Haywood, in the Cape Fear, and of the 
 Dunas settlement on the Pedee, are examples. In the latter case, 
 the river exhibits in perfection the disposition to wind which is 
 also characteristic of such as flow through the state under consid- 
 eration. It would seem that after passing through the sterile re- 
 gion above, and being dashed upon the flinty slates and horn- 
 stones of the Narrows, and Great Falls, it testified by long circum- 
 volutions its delight at finding repose in the soft bosom of the 
 sandstone, and amidst the fertile fields that border it on either 
 hand. 
 
 Small nodules of compact limestone, and masses of a loose 
 texture, have been found in this formation, in the upper part of 
 Wake, in Anson, and elsewhere, and it is to be hoped that bo- 
 dies of such size, as to meet the demands of the farmer, for the 
 purposes of agriculture, may hereafter be discovered. Pieces of 
 silicified wood are of pretty common occurrence. We have spe- 
 cimens from the eastern part of Orange, and from ^Richmond. 
 But the most important of the substances that are found imbed- 
 ded in the sandstone, is unquestionably, coal. 
 
 A 6eam of bituminous coal has been known to exist at the 
 Gulph, on the north side of Deep river in Chatham county, for 
 upwards of sixty years, but after having been opened, and used, 
 
132 
 
 GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 for some time, it was abandoned, and altogether neglected till 
 within four or five years past, when it was opened anew’, and the 
 coal is now used in preference to charcoal, in the black-smiths’ 
 shops in the neighbourhood of the mine. Two or three years 
 since a bed of Anthracite coal was discovered on the lands of 
 Messrs. Farish and Clegg, four miles lower down the river, and 
 within the present year, another has been opened on the lands of 
 George Wilcox, about eight miles above. This last, at the point 
 where it was discovered, is so highly charged with iron pyrites 
 as to be unfit to be employed in working iron, but a little explo- 
 ration might bring to light coal of a better quality . Attheother 
 bed it appears to be good. Through nearly the whole of the 
 northern side of this sandstone formation, in the counties of 
 Chatham, Moore, and Montgomery, a distance of 50 miles, the 
 black shales which appear at the surface render it probable that 
 coal may be discovered, and although in a thinly settled country, 
 that is covered with forests, and remote from water carriage it 
 can have no immediate commercial value, it is pleasant to know 
 that we have resources to which we may turn, when those upon 
 which we have hitherto depended shall fail. 
 
 A mineral spring that has some reputation, rises from the stra- 
 ta we are describing in Moore. It is a pretty strong chalybeate. 
 Jackson’s, a branch of Dowming creek, rises in the sand-hills, 
 but has removed the sand so as to bring the subjacent rock to 
 view r , for some distance along its bed, and it is from a crevice in 
 a body of trap rocks that the water flows. 
 
 The sandstone is quarried and used in building, for which it is 
 in some places w'ell adapted, grindstones of a tolerable quality 
 are cut from it in Montgomery, Richmond, and Anson ; and in 
 the northern part of Moore, instead of the common fine sand, being 
 composed of quartz pebbles, of considerable size, cemented in 
 in the usual way, it is a valuable material for mill-stones, espe- 
 cially such as are to be employed in grinding corn. 
 
 This formation has been represented as a continuation of that 
 which passes through Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Mid- 
 dle States. The only evidence we have of this relationship or 
 identity, is furnished by a similarity of composition; similar sand- 
 stones, are associated in the same way, with similar masses of 
 trap. There are however points of difference. Supposing the 
 formation to be parts of the same, which if not continuous, w r as 
 throughout the result of the same causes ; the irregularities of 
 surface, the relative proportion of the trap, and the quantity of 
 the associated minerals, appear to diminish w'ith some degree of 
 regularity, from its northern to its southern extremity. In New- 
 England the trap forms long ranges of mountains, some of which 
 are from seven or eight hundred to more than a thousand feet in 
 height ; the most elevated of the trap ridges in New’ Jersey are not 
 more than 400 feet, but they are many miles in length; in North Caro- 
 lina they are greatly reduced in both extent and elevation. Min- 
 
SANDSTONES. 
 
 133 
 
 erals of the zoolite family are abundant in New England, of less 
 frequent occurrence apparently in New-Jersey, and rare, if they 
 occur at all, where the sandstone formation traverses Pennsylvania 
 and Maryland : they have never been found in North Carolina. 
 
 Disregarding the short interruption of continuity south of 
 Fredericton in Maryland, Professor Henry D. Rogers in his final 
 report on the geology of New-Jersey, supposing the sandstone 
 and trap of that state to be continuous through the intervening 
 states, to the northern “ confines of North Carolina,” and re- 
 marking that it gradually ascends, and grows narrower, as it ad- 
 vances towards the south, so as to be reduced from a breadth of 30 
 miles at or near New York, to four miles on James River, refers 
 the whole to an ancient river, having its source in the southern 
 states, and estuary at, or near, New York, by which the materials 
 af the sandstone were formed and deposited in their present beds. 
 
 If this theory is correct, the sandstone of North Carolina must 
 be referred to a similar, but different origin, and not regarded 
 as part of the same system of rocks. The absence of organic 
 remains indicates a fluriatile rather than an oceanic deposit, but 
 the great objection to the theory is, that it takes no account of the 
 trap. The trap is imbedded in the sandstone, and traverses it in 
 a thousand different directions,. It is not met with elsewhere ; 
 in the slates and granite that lie adjacent to the sandstone. Why 
 should a river be liable throughout its whole extent, in length 
 and breadth, to injections and eruptions of trap, whilst nothing 
 of the kind occurs upon its banks ? A theory which embraces 
 and accounts for, a part only of a mass of associated phenomena, 
 is mischievous as well as unsatisfactory, arresting the spirit of 
 examination and enquiry. 
 
 Maclure gave to the formations of New England and the mid- 
 dle states the name of old-red-sandstone : Professor Hitchcock 
 regards them as belonging to the new-red-sandstone ; Professor 
 Rogers disliking this precision of nomenclature, and supposing 
 them to be later than the carboniferous rocks, and earlier than 
 the green-sand, denominates them l( the middle secondary se- 
 ries.” From a general similarity in its aspect, the soil formed 
 by its decomposition, and the character of the rocks associated 
 with it, I cannot but regard the sandstone of North Carolina as 
 the result, if not of the same, at least of similar causes, if not 
 of the same, not of a very different age. But I have no theory 
 to offer in regard to the mode of its formation, or opinion to ex- 
 press respecting its age, other than that it is very old. 
 
 Another sandstone formation, with associated masses of trap 
 rocks, beds of black slate, slate clay, anthracite coal, silicified 
 wood, and limestone, enters North Carolina from Virginia, and 
 extends through Rockingham and Stokes counties, along the 
 course of Dan river, and the Town Fork, to Gcrmanlon. Its 
 greatest breadth is six miles. The soil resembles that produced 
 bv the decomposition of the larger body of sandstone just de- 
 
 1 1 * 
 
134 
 
 GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 scribed, but has greater fertility. Two seams of coal have been 
 observed in it, both on the North bank of the river, one in 
 Rockingham, about four miles above Leaksville ; and the other 
 in Stokes, opposite to the mouth of the Town Fork. 
 
 64. Of the Transition and Slate Hocks . — These occupy a 
 large space in North Carolina. The principad body of them tra- 
 verses the State in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction, 
 immediately west of the great sandstone formation, occupying a 
 breadth of about 30 miles. From the South Carolina line, to a 
 point nearly east from Pittsboro’, in Chatham county, the slate 
 is in immediate contact with the sandstone ; also passing under it 
 and appearing on the opposite side, in Anson and Richmond. 
 The sandstone, the more recent of the two, lies in a trough, or 
 depression in the slate. At the point mentioned, a body of gran- 
 ite comes in, and separates the two through a distance of about 
 eighteen miles ; after which they meet again near the ridge that 
 divides the basin of the Cape Fear, from that of the Neuse, and 
 continue to touch, nearly through the basin of the Neuse, to a 
 point in Granville, three or four miles east of the Orange line, 
 from whence, to where Grassy creek crosses the Virginia line, 
 the slate is again bounded by granite on the east. The western 
 boundary of the slate is granite throughout. Commencing near 
 where Five Mile Creek passes the South Carolina line, it runs 
 through Mecklenburg, by the Mouth of Dutch Buffalo, to the 
 north-east corner of Cabarrus, thence by the mouth of Abbott’s 
 Creek, to a point nearly east and five or six miles distant from 
 Lexington, thence to the south-east corner of Guilford, thence by 
 Ruffin’s Mills to the south-east corner of Caswell, thence east of 
 Roxborough to a point in the Virginia line, a little west of the 
 Person and Granville line. This formation includes of course, 
 the western part of Granville, the eastern part of Person, the cen- 
 tral part of Orange, more than half of Chatham, nearly the whole 
 of Randolph, the whole of Montgomery, (what is sandstone ex- 
 cepted,) the whole of Stanley, the south-eastern corner of David- 
 son and Rowan, the north-western part of Anson, and south-west-, 
 ern of Mecklenburg. 'Phis body of slates forms a coating, and 
 probably not a very thick one, upon a recent, imperfectly crys- 
 talline, granite rock, on which it reposes. But the upper surface 
 of the subjacent rock having been irregular, the granite at some 
 points penetrates through the slates, and appears on the surface. 
 The slates also send off tongues, or promontories beyond the lines 
 just designated as their boundaries, and as no good could come of 
 a minute examination of all these irregularities, they have in 
 many cases been neglected. Nor is the passage from granite to 
 slate, sudden and well defined, but through intermediate beds that 
 are neither slate, nor granite, nor any other rock that has a name 
 in the books. These anomalous masses also occupy sometime:* 
 a considerable space at the surface. 
 
 This formation is of course composed like the rest of th§ 
 
TRANSITION AND SLATE ROCKS. 
 
 135 
 
 crust of the globe, of the four earths, silica, alumina, lime 
 and magnesia ; but the quantity of lime entering into it is small. 
 The most common and abundant constituent, is a compound of 
 silica and alumina; simple argillite, or clay 6late. This prevails 
 especially near its two extremities ; in Granville, Person, Anson, 
 Mecklenburg and Stanley. In these we find argillite almost to 
 the exclusion of every other mineral. The slate undergoes de- 
 composition very slowly, and has to this day covered itself with 
 a thin coating only, of earth. It furnishes therefore the most 
 decisive evidence of the manner in which the soil of the whole 
 upper country has been -formed. When an attempt is made to 
 dig a well, the work advances rapidly at first, but at the depth 
 of three or four feet, and frequently much sooner, a slaty struc- 
 ture begins to develope itself in the earth that is thrown out, the 
 spade is exchanged for a mattock, and long before water is reach- 
 ed, -Ihe excavation has to be carried on in a mass of rock, requir- 
 ing the constant use of gunpowder to shiver it to pieces. Rain 
 water will of course penetrate with difficulty, and in small quan- 
 tities, into a country so constituted ; the larger part of that which 
 falls, will pass off immediately into the creeks and rivers, springs 
 will neither be numerous nor copious, and in a season of long 
 drought, the slate country suffers more severely than any other. 
 The soil is never fertile, though in a summer when rain falls fre- 
 quently, tolerable crops are obtained. 
 
 In the counties of Montgomery, and Stanley', (and the separa- 
 tion of the original county of Montgomery into these two, may 
 be numbered among the grossest follies of recent legislation,) but 
 especially in the former, the simple and pure argillite gives place 
 to a triple compound of silica, alumina, and magnesia, of which, 
 a range of rugged, but not high nor fertile mountains, passing 
 through the centre of the county, and amongst, and partly on 
 which .Lawrenceville stands, are composed. The clay slate ap- 
 pears to occupy a lower level, and to be found especially around 
 the bases of the highlands, as on Clarke’s creek, and the Uwhare 
 in Montgomery. In other places both the alumina and magne- 
 sia disappear, and we have beds of hornstone,- flinty slate, and 
 jasper, such as those crossing the Yadkin at the Narrows, and 
 Great Falls, over which the water has poured for ages, and may 
 continue to pour for ages to come, without producing any other 
 effect than that of giving an imperfect polish to their surfaces. 
 Intermingled with all these, and interst ratified with them, are 
 other beds, sometimes massive, and sometimes exhibiting like the 
 rest a slaty structure, constituted of water-worn, siliceous, and 
 other pebbles, united by a cement of silica, forming a rock of 
 great solidity, proving that this formation is not co-eval with the 
 existence of the earth, but made up of the fragments and ruins of 
 older rocks. These conglomerates conlain particles of gold im- 
 bedded along with the pebbles. The Beaver Dam and Parker’s 
 {surface mines, are amongst rocks of this character, so also is Reid’s 
 
136 
 
 GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 where gold was first discovered in North Carolina, and the largest- 
 mass found. In some places there is soap stone. In the southso 
 ern part of Person, in Orange, Chatham, Randolph, and David-' 
 son, there are interspersed amongst the slates, larger patches of 
 grapite, or of those rocks, by which a passage is made from slate- 
 to granite, these last often coloured green by epidote, and there 
 results a much higher degree of fertility in the soil than where 
 the pure argillite prevails. A fine grained triple compound of 
 silica, alumina, and magnesia found in Orange six miles west of 
 the University, in Chatham and elsewhei e is an excellent oil-stone. 
 
 Until within five years, the ores of but tsvo metals, (iron and 
 gold) were known to exist in any quantity within the limits of 
 this formation. The argillite often contains imbedded, a quanti- 
 ty of the bi-sulphuret of iron ; Iron Pyrites. If a rock of this 
 kind be roasted so as to expel a part of the sulphur, and acidify a 
 part, and then exposed to the weather, copperas and alum will 
 gradually be formed in it. But that this manufacture may be 
 prosecuted profitably, it is necessary that the materials should be 
 abundant, and they have nowhere been met with in North Caro- 
 lina, in such quantity, as to justify a person in embarking in this 
 enterprize. Traversing the argillite, are veins of quartz, (white 
 flint,) containing imbedded , small masses of the specular oxid of 
 iron. This is a good ore ; the same that in the Island of Elba 
 has been explored for centuries, but the quantity in any one lo- 
 cality is inconsiderable — such as to furnish specimens to the 
 mineralogist, but not materials for the manufacture of iron. The 
 only important ore bed, of the slate, is on the waters of Tick 
 creek in Chatham. It was from this that the furnace built at the 
 Gulph, on Deep river, before the Revolution, was supplied. 
 Gold appears to be sparingly distributed through the whole body 
 of the slate. But one vein of gold of any value has been 
 opened in it ; Barringer’s in the north-west corner of Stanley. 
 The great vein of Davidson county, in which lead, silver, 
 copper and zinc, but especially the two former, are associated 
 in such quantities, is near the northern border of this forma- 
 tion. The prevailing rock around the mine is pure argillite, 
 and the soil produced by its decomposition very poor. In the 
 spring of 1S38, the owner (Byerly,) of a small tract, was led to 
 examine a spot at the top of a hill, or rising ground of very gen- 
 tle elevation, in the hope of finding gold. He found the carbon- 
 ate of lead and then sold his possessions. Mr. King, who became 
 the purchaser, sunk a shaft and fell in with the ores of the other 
 metals during the summer of the same year, and in the following 
 winter, the Washington Mining Company was incorporated. 
 The discovery of this mine is an event of great interest, from the 
 additional evidence furnished by it that the central counties of 
 North Carolina are one of the rich mining districts of the world, 
 where farther developments of mineral wealth may' be confidently 
 expected ; as also, that where there are no remarkable indications 
 
TRANSITION AND SLATE BOCKS. 
 
 137 
 
 at the surface, there may be immense bodies of ore below. The 
 Conrad hill, five miles east of the lead and silver mine, rich in 
 gold and affording some copper, belongs rather to the recent prim- 
 itive, presently to be noticed. 
 
 For the time when this vast body of slate rocks was formed, we 
 must go back to the earliest ages of the world ; if not to the time 
 when the present ocean hung as an atmosphere of vapor around 
 a glowing mass of rock ; to another inconceivably ancient, when 
 the whole was still too hot to be the abode of organized beings. Re- 
 specting the manner in which the materials ofparticular strata were 
 produced during such a condition of things, it is useless to speculate. 
 
 The slate of the western part of Anson, passing under the sand- 
 stone, reappears in the southern part of the county, on the waters 
 of Thompson’s creek, and extending under the sand of the terti- 
 ary, forms the rapids in the Pedee just above the South Carolina 
 line. It is also in the bed of Mark’s creek in Richmond, and in 
 the Northern part of the county, on Mountain creek, after having 
 passed under the sandstone, near the Grassy Islands. 
 
 A formation havingso intimate a resemblance to that just describ- 
 ed, that it may be conjectured not merely to be of the same age, but 
 to have been produced by the same causes, traverses the counties 
 of Wayne, Nash, and Halifax. It is very extensively covered by 
 the sand, especially on the high grounds, but has been laid bare 
 along the banks, and in the beds of the creeks and rivers, so that 
 its limits may be assigned with tolerable accuracy. It is on both 
 sides of the Neuse above the Roundabout in Wayne, in the bed of 
 Falling creek, and at Coxe’s bridge : its lower limit crosses the 
 Cotentney at some distance above Cobb’s Mill, (at, and below the 
 mill, the rocks are granite ;) the Tar near Strickland’s bridge, 
 and passing about midway between Nashville and the Falls of 
 Tar, crossing Fishing creek at some distance above Enfield, it 
 reaches the Roanoke between Weldon and Gaston. On the west, 
 the slate approaches very near to Franklin and Wake, but hardly 
 enters those counties. Its width on the old Stage road from Ra- 
 leigh to Halifax is about 12 miles, but it is much narrower on the 
 Roanoke, and may thin out in that direction, so as not to enter 
 the State of Virginia. The only metals that have been found 
 within the limits of this formation are gold and iron. 
 
 There is a third body of transition slate rocks in the western 
 and north-western part of the State, adjacent to Tennessee. At 
 the extreme west, more than half the county of Cherokee is be- 
 yond the boundary of the primitive ; which crossing the Tennes- 
 see river at a point below Franklin in Macon county, approaches 
 the State line as it advances towards the north-east, and falls in 
 with it in the western part of Yancey, but a few miles from this, 
 a long projection, or tongue, from the formations of the western 
 slates, extends quite across the Alleghanies, to the bank of the 
 Catawba in Burke. Linville river and the North Cove, run their 
 whole course in this formation, which includes also the head wa- 
 
133 
 
 GEOLOGY OF KOKT1I CAROLINA. 
 
 ters of North Toe, and John’s rivers, and some of the largest 
 branches of the Watauga. Linville mountain, the Grandfather, 
 and several other high ridges and peaks in the neighborhood, be* 
 long to the transition. This body of transition rocks was noticed 
 by Maclure, hut supposed by him to bean independent formation 
 lying altogether on the eastern side of the mountains. “A simi- 
 “ lar formation about fifteen miles long, and two or three wide, 
 “occurs on the North Fork of Catawba river, running along Lin- 
 “ ville and John’s mountain, near to the Blue Ridge." 
 
 It is composed chiefly of sandstone, with some beds of argil- 
 lite, and a few of limestone, in the North Cove. The soil pro- 
 duced by its decomposition is poor, and the aspect of the country 
 extremely wild and rugged. It is almost without inhabitants, 
 and generally without roads, or improvements of any kind, all 
 the travel between North Carolina and Tennessee, passing north 
 of it through Ashe, or south of it through Rutherford and Bun- 
 comb. The violence of the convulsions in which this remarka- 
 ble feature in the geology of the state originated, is indicated by 
 the whole structure and appearance of the region comprehended 
 w'ithin, and lying around it. The highest point in North Amer- 
 ica, east of the Rocky Mountains, is not more than fifteen miles 
 distant, and instead of the long parallel ridges that compose the 
 Alleghany range farther north, we have isolated masses, ridges 
 directed towards every point of the compass, and the utmost con- 
 fusion and disorder. Gold has been collected in considerable 
 quantities from the streams of Cherokee county, which has also 
 beds of iron and statuary marble. In the lower part of Buncomb 
 are the Warm Springs, with a temperature of 104°. They rise oa 
 the bank, and in the bed, of the French Broad, give out con- 
 siderable quantities of nitrogen, but contain very little mineral 
 matter of any kind. 
 
 65. Primitive formations of North Carolina. These of 
 course comprehend all those parts of the state that have not been 
 described as belonging to the more recent beds. They furnish 
 examples of all the principal varieties of rock belonging to this 
 class ; granite, gneiss, mica, chlorite, hornblende, and talcose 
 slate, quartz rock, serpentine, limestone, etc., but are apparently 
 not all of the same age. 
 
 1. A vast body of granite rocks traverses the State in a north- 
 easterly and south-westerly direction, including, if not the whole, 
 the primitive part of the counties of Person, Caswell, (except the 
 north-west corner,) Orange, Guilford, Randolph, Davidson, Row- 
 an, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg, also some of Lincoln, Iredell, 
 Davie, Stokes and Rockingham. Within these limits there is no 
 well defined gneiss, mica, or other primitive slate, serpentine, or 
 limestone. Mica is rare, and in its stead there is chlorite or 
 hornblende, but even these are not in general well characterized. 
 There are very few imbedded crystals. The whole mass of rock, 
 with a structure fhore or less of granitic, has an uncrystalline earthy 
 
PRIMITIVE FORMATIONS. 
 
 139 
 
 aspect, indicating a recent origin. It decomposes into a good 
 soil. The primitive tract on which the University stands, and 
 the central and northern part of Granville, have the sarnie charac- 
 teristics In this newer primitive, are nearly all the valuable vein 
 mines of gold, and all the veins of copper, that have been wrought 
 within the limits of the State of North Carolina ; not in immediate 
 contact with thegranite,butin beds of ill defined chlorite or clay slate, 
 that are associated with or rest upon it. It may be conjectured that 
 a galvanic influence, excited by the contact of large masses of gra- 
 nite and slate, in the early ages of the earth, determined the sepa- 
 ration from the whole body of each, of the gold, silver, copper, 
 lead and other metals, they severally contained, and their collec- 
 tion, near the common boundary, into the mineral repositories or 
 veins, from which they are now extracted. Very great quantities 
 of iron pyrites, are raised from the mines of both copper and gold. 
 
 2. West of the formation just noticed, are the most ancient 
 primitive rocks ; on the upper waters of the Dan the Yakkin, 
 the Catawba, the French Broad, and their tributary streams. 
 These are the counties of the mineralogist, where the various 
 rare and beautiful, but worthless, crystalline forms, which it is 
 his delight to discover, describe, and arrange in his cabinet, may 
 be sought with some reasonable expectations of finding them. 
 There is a great varie‘y of granites in this region The ternary 
 compound of quartz, feldspar, and mica is the most common, but 
 with endless diversities, depending upon the proportion, colour, 
 size of the grains, and other characters, of the constituent mine- 
 rals. The gneiss and slates of different localities are less unlike, 
 though they too are sometimes very dissimilar. All these are so 
 interstratified, so alternate with, and are imbedded in each other, 
 that an attempt to assign the limits of each, would be alike dif- 
 ficult and useless. 
 
 The most important and valuable mineral furnished by the an- 
 cient primitive rocks of North Carolina, is iron ore, of which 
 there are three principal localities. 1. That of Stokes and Sur- 
 rey, near the dividing line of which counties, there is a series of 
 beds, extending in a north-easterly and south-esterly direc- 
 tion, from the Virginia line, to the Yadkin river. There are al- 
 so some beds on the southern side of the river. The ore is no- 
 where very abundant, though in sufficient quantity to supply the 
 demand of a few forges. It consists of a mixture of the brown 
 and black oxides, disseminated under the form of grains, small 
 crystals, and amorphous masses, through mica slate and gneiss 
 rocks, forming the variety called by the workmen shot ore. The 
 proportion of the ore to the including rock, is sometimes so 
 small as to render washing for the purpose of removing a part at 
 least of the earthy matter, necessary, before it can be smelted. 
 But this can be effected by a process so cheap as to render the 
 operation profitable, only when the rock has been softened by a 
 partial decomposition. The iron made from this ore is of a good 
 
140 
 
 GEOLOGY oy NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 quality. S. That of Lincoln, where the ore is of the same kind, 
 abundant,- and pood, and the quantity of the iron manufantqted 
 much greater. There are in Lincoln four furnaces, which are in 
 blast during more than half the year, and about twelve forges. 
 The Lincoln iron is also good, but is said to possess the quality 
 of toughness, in greater perfection than thatof hardness. Though 
 some iron has been made in Wilkes, Burke, and Rutherford, the 
 ore beds of those counties are of less importances-/^. The third 
 -principal body of iron ore is on the other side pflhe ridge, in 
 -the counties of Ashe and Yancey — in the extreme north-western 
 part of the latter county. Much of it is in rocks containing 
 hornblende as one of their ingredients, and the metal obtained - 
 from it is excellent, being both tough and hard, and eminently 
 -fitted therefore for most of the uses to which-iron ia applied^ 
 
 Gold has been found in small quantities in most of the western 
 counties, but in the most ancient primitive, it is collected from 
 surface mines. Minute veins and small pockets holding grains of 
 the precious metal imbedded, are distributed through these rocks, 
 and as disintegration has proceeded, the gold has been carried by 
 water down the declivities, into the beds of the neighbouring 
 streams. The counties of Rutherford and Burke, have-hitherto 
 been found richer in these deposits than any other. 
 
 Limestone has been discovered at three points in the primitive 
 roeks in Stokes county ; at one on the bank of the Yadkin, three 
 miles below Rockford in Surrey, and at several places in the south- 
 eastern part of Buncomb and Henderson. Small nodules and 
 masses also have been found about Lincolnton, encouraging a far- 
 ther search, in the hope that larger bodies may be discovered. 
 The limestone of King’s Mountain is in a small tract of later 
 primitive, bearing an intimate resemblance to the country around 
 Charlotte, and like that rich in veins of gold. 
 
 - Plumbago, or black lead, is found at several places in Stokes, 
 Surrey, Wilkes, Burke. Iredell, and Lincoln. Sometimes it is 
 in considerable masses, sometimes in smaller masses or'grains, 
 distributed through the rocks, and again it is diffused through the 
 whole of a bed of mica slate, communicating to it, its own dark 
 colour. Beds of serpentine are common beyond -the ridge. Be- 
 sides asbestus, chalcedony, and other earthy minerals, some of 
 them contain an immense number of small octahedral crystals of 
 the magnetic oxide of iron, and one on the south fork of Toe 
 river, is highly charged with irregular grains of the ehromate of 
 iron. There is a whole hill of amianthus in the northern part of 
 Yancey. 
 
 Springs whose waters hold dissolved a small amount of mine- 
 ral matter, chalyheates and others, are not uncommon ; but there 
 are few which are so strongly impregnated as to be worthy of 
 particular notice. In some cases, rising near the .bottom of a 
 declivity, they ooze through a mass of vegetable and some ani- 
 mal matter- that has been washed down from above, and the 
 
J'HIMITIVE FORMATIONS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 water is employed as a remedy lor diseases, because it lias an of- 
 fensive smell. In general the water of this primitive region is 
 very pure and good. That of Dcaver’s spring, four miles from 
 Ashville, contains a considerable quantity of sulphuretted hy- 
 drogen. 
 
 3. There is a hotly of very beautiful porphyritic granite in the 
 counties of Anson and Richmond, hearing no resemblance to any 
 that is met with elsewhere in the state, a few masses in the bed 
 of the Cotentney above Stantonsburg excepted. It is on both 
 sides of the Pcdee below old Mount Pleasant, the former county- 
 seat of Anson, and but for the circumstance of its being un- 
 healthy, one of the loveliest spots in North Carolina. It forms an 
 excellent soil by its decomposition ; millstones of a tolerable 
 quality arc cut from it in Richmond ; it is not known to contain 
 any imbedded minerals. 
 
 4. The small field of granite on which the University stands 
 has been sufficiently noticed. East of the rcd-sandsLone, in the 
 counties of Cumberland, Wake, Granville, Warren, Franklin, 
 Nash, Johnston, Halifax, and Northampton, is another body of 
 ancient primitive rocks, largely covered by the sand. Amongst 
 these, granite prevails more extensively than any other, and 
 where the tertiary sand is absent, there is a fertile soil. The 
 western and northern part of Wake county, where magnesian 
 slates and quartz rocks come in, is probably inferior to any other 
 in this whole area, the tertiary sand always excepted. The im- 
 bedded minerals are few. Nodules and masses of Plumbago are 
 found at intervals, from a point north-west of Raleigh, to near the 
 Cumberland line. That of the principal bed, cm the waters of 
 Crab-tree, is pure and good, and lias been explored to some extent, 
 and with profit, for many years. Above the falls of the Ncuse 
 is a large body of serpentine and other magnesian rocks. Much 
 of the serpentine is too highly charged with small grains of oxide 
 of iron, 1o admit of its being cut and polished as an ornamental 
 stone, hut in so large a mass, it may he expected that a diligent 
 search would discover such as possesses every desirable quality, 
 of solidity, strength, and beauty. With this notice of the lowest, 
 and probably not the least ancient of our rock formations, we 
 close this outline of the Geology of North Carolina. 
 
 TIIR KNP. 
 
 North Carolina State L: -r 
 Raleigh 
 
D00777727.