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is figure the crust of the earth is greatly exaggerated, so as more distinctly to show the forms into which its materials are cast. ange comes over the scene. Continents ble beds of coal, which ages after were to contri sink beneath the ocean, and new conti- to the civilization of man, to drive the whirling s rom the bosom of the deep. The old cre

dles of the factory, to work the sledge of the ironto impel the steamboat through the wave, and the locomotive on its track.

fact swept away. A new earth appears, ngs are created to inhabit it. Fishes of are seen to glide in the waters; scorpions, various insects, are seen upon the land 1. The fresh waters now begin to teem sh, and the land becomes clothed with a getation. The pine-tree rises, with its es, into the air. The stately palm broods ver hill and valley; and flowering plants appear, in diversified forms and hues, on

Another change comes over the scene. A new tribution of land and water takes place. Myriac organized existences become extinct, and new succeed. Reading the record of this age, as wr upon the enduring leaves of red sandstone, we see gigantic frogs and birds of amazing stature now d upon the earth. The ichthyosaurus, the plesiosau and other strange yet stupendous reptiles, wonder combining the powers of distinct genera, dwell in waters or along their margin, and at the same new forms of vegetable life are scattered over landscape.

ge of the world, the climate differs from present period. The torrid zone seems to he earth; and even in the polar regions, al and vegetable life can now hardly exist, plants seem to luxuriate, and animals d to the torrid regions sport in the tepid nd the poles. This was the Carboniferous 1 it was during this prolific age that the sses of vegetable matter were produced in the earth, to constitute those inexhausti

Still another change appears, and now the mars animals are seen; the crocodile, the gavial, and tortoise are created. New fishes, new insects, new animals of the crustaceous kind, are discove and plants, also, of new forms, spring up from the This is the Oölitic Period.

And now we come to the Wealden Period, the

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th many that have before existed. The orld displays also some new plants, amid t have belonged to other ages.

come to the Tertiary Period, which is far - in organic remains than those which have A multitude of new animals and plants ave entered upon their career. Many spenow extinct-such as the palæotherium, nd dinotherium-are found, with a mulnimals still in existence. The bones of ow unknown occur confusedly mixed with Le bat, wolf, fox, raccoon, squirrel, owl,

of animals have lived and perished; the seasons ha come and gone; the elements have performed th work, and all unwitnessed by human beings. Geolo tells us of the volcano and the earthquake; of iguanodon and the plesiosaurus; of ages that ha fled, and races that have perished; - it opens a r and wonderful volume of history, and reveals eve which would otherwise have slept in oblivion forev but it tells us nothing of our own speciez. Ma history is recent; his existence, as compared with age of the earth, is as an hand-breadth. We do find his bones imbedded in the ancient rocks; th

records of sacred and profane history.

ant, ox, deer, &c. Many extinct species hoary archives have not preserved a relic of the ra ill existing are discovered. Multitudes of It is only in the alluvial period that we find the tra -fish are found with others that still remain, of man, and within a date compatible alike with he relics of vegetable races which have in the earth, we find the fossil remains of ows, sycamores, and elms. Thus, the old --the past and the present, - the races ihilated, and the races that remain, -are ed together in one common tomb, formed of the earth to which we give the title of - Period.

A

et no traces of man appear. Hitherto the performed its revolutions, and ages have ; change has followed change; myriads

CHAPTER XIX.

Geological History of the Earth, continued THE greatest thickness of the superficial crust of globe - that is, of the mass of solid materials w the ingenuity of man has been able to examine, f the highest mountain-peaks to the greatest natura valleys. older rocks; as we descend, materials of a de kness of a hundred miles so far exceeds character appear, which also exhibit proofs of ha whole of the strata that are accessible to been subject to the action of water; but when rvation, we cannot doubt that disturbances arrive at the lowermost in the scale, a crystal 's surface, even to ten times the depth of

come within the scope of geological y take place, without in any degree affectre mass of the globe. If these facts be ered, the mind will be prepared to receive

structure generally prevails; and while, in the ne strata, trees, plants, shells, and other remains of mals and vegetables, are found in profusion, - in most ancient rocks, all traces of organic forms are abs The following figure will indicate the manne most startling propositions in modern geol- which the various strata upon the earth's surface ly, that the highest mountains have once disposed. A reference, also, to the geological sect I of the sea, and have been raised to their at page 35, will aid the reader in forming cor lations by subterranean agency-some notions on this subject.

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a Primary Rock, which has been thrown up, so as to disturb and mix itself with the Secondary Rocks. b Secondary Rocks, thrown into inclinations and curves by the rising of the Primary Rocks.

c Tertiary Formation, deposited in a hollow formed by the disturbance of the Secondary Rocks.

d Basaltic Columns.

e A fault or hitch in the strata.

The circles are Boulders or detached stones, rounded by travelling in water, and deposited in hollows formed by water.
The dots indicate beds of gravel immediately beneath the soil.

tment of geology is more attractive than sometimes thirty feet in length; the plesiosau
relates to fossil remains, and to which we having the head of a lizard, the teeth of a crococ
y alluded. It seems to open a new volume the tail of a quadruped, ribs like those of the
's history, and to unfold the archives which meleon, paddles like a whale, and the neck c
sealed in oblivion for ages. We cannot serpent; the pterodactyle, with a neck like a b

re than a brief outline of this interesting must be sufficient to say, that the vestiges of s, and shrubs; of insects, birds, fishes, and ; are found imbedded in the strata of the what is most wonderful, these are, for the of species now extinct. It may be added, mains of animals and vegetables are found repugnant to their nature; as, for instance, ants and animals fitted only to the tropics abundantly even along the margin of the

wings like a bat, and a body like a lizard; and iguanodon, an enormous lizard, which we have be described.

These are the remains of some of the wonde animals found in the more ancient strata. Among more recent formations, are the remains of the m moth and mastodon; birds resembling the woodc quail, cormorant, owl, and buzzard; fishes of a th sand forms; and shells in countless abundance, of infinitely diversified forms.

No principle, in geology, is better ascertained facts, than that many successive destructions and

the fossil animals are the dinotherium, an s quadruped, eighteen feet in length, and ovations have taken place on the surface of our gl intermediate place between the tapir and We are apt to imagine that all the great revolut on; the megatherium, of the sloth species, of the earth have been sudden and violent, and s th a bony coat of armor, like the armadillo, of these have doubtless been so; an instance ling the rhinoceros in bulk; the ichthyo- this kind is that recorded by Moses, and which fish lizard, resembling the porpoise, and consideration also of the great revolution w

38

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH.

was effected, and the new aspect which the world times burst forth from the middle of the sea, displacing presented, is properly spoken of as a creation. But, the waters, and rearing up islands to the height of in general, we have reason to believe that the muta- 100 feet.

tions and revolutions which have been wrought upon the globe, for a series of ages, have been the work of great and powerful agents still in operation, and still accomplishing their destined task of change and revolution.

There are two great antagonist powers in naturethe aqueous and igneous. These are visible, and in operation, at the present hour. The former, as in springs, rivers, tides, frosts, and rain, is constantly employed in the disintegration of rocks, and in the degradation, or levelling, of land.

Among the igneous causes of change in the earth's surface are volcanoes and earthquakes, which are inseparably connected, and result from the same causes. The former are chiefly confined to certain geographical limits; some are periodical, while others are in a state of constant activity. Stromboli, in one of the Lipari Isles, has never ceased its action during a period of more than 2000 years; while Vesuvius and Etna give forth eruptions only at intervals, and others have been dormant for ages.

In the snowy regions of the Andes, the effects of an eruption are terrific; for not only are torrents of lava ejected, but the intense heat melts the snow, which causes inundations, carrying the volcanic sand, stones, and rocks, down with desolating fury upon the plains below. Iceland is entirely of volcanic origin; and so

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intense has been the volcanic action, that Hecla has sometimes continued in a constant state of eruption for six years, shaking the whole island, and causing great changes in its surface.

Earthquakes are remarkable for the extent of country over which they operate. The shock of an earthquake in Chili, in 1822, was simultaneously felt throughout a space of 1200 miles, from north to south. During the convulsions of an earthquake, the surface of the earth undulates like a boiling liquid; the sea heaves and swells as in a tempest; edifices are thrown into heaps of ruins, and enormous fragments of rocks are detached from the mountains. In some instances, whole cities have been ingulfed in the space of a few minutes; and extensive districts of country, teeming with wealth and prosperity, have been suddenly converted into ghastly spectacles of desolation.

The explanation of these sublime yet terrific phenomena is to be found in the action of heat, generated by chemical causes in the bowels of the earth. When this has melted vast masses of rock into lava, the boiling flood seeks vent, and, in its egress, rends everything asunder which obstructs its path. There is reason to believe that every portion of the earth has been at successive periods covered by water, and that the present elevations, even including the Andes and the Alps, have been upheaved from the bottom of the sea.

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The amazing effects of volcanoes almost surpass conception; mountains of great height have been The difference between the former and the present thrown up in a single day, and have taken their rank temperature of northern latitude is a highly interestamong the permanent elevations of the globe. In ing topic in geology. It is a fact fully admitted, that 1759, Jorullo, in Mexico, was elevated, in the space the climate of the northern hemisphere was once much of two months, into several cones-the central one hotter than it is at present. Fossil plants, and anibeing 1600 feet above the level of the plain. Forty mals, analogous to species which only subsist, at years afterwards, when Humboldt visited the place, he present, in tropical countries, are found strewed over found the mighty masses of lava still so hot, that he the northern parts of Europe. To account for the was able to light his cigar at the depth of a few inches. change of climate thus indicated, various theories Two small streams, which had disappeared during the have been suggested; but the most probable one is, eruption, afterwards burst forth as hot springs in a that the ocean and land had once a different arrangeposition remote from their former course. Such is the ment from the existing one, and that, at a former expulsive power of volcanoes, that Cotopaxi has been period, currents flowing from the tropical regions, and known to project rocks, more than 100 tons in weight, other circumstances tending to the same point, conto the distance of nine miles. tributed to soften the temperature of those regions which have since become frigid.

Nor are volcanoes confined to the land; they some

EARLY NOTIONS OF GEOGRAPHY.

39

Various attempts have been made to account for existence. That people, it is very clear, never atthe deluge upon geological principles. It has been tempted to form any scientific theory respecting the suggested that an elevation of the bottom of the sea, structure of the earth. Throughout the Bible we with a corresponding depression of the mountains, find prevailing the common notion of all uninstructed making nearly a level surface over the earth, enabled people, that the earth is a flat surface, and the heaven the accumulated waters to spread over the whole a firmament or curtain spread over it. The region extent of the globe. But this supposition appears beneath was believed to be a deep pit, -the abode of inconsistent with the language of Scripture. This darkness and the shadow of death. In one passage implies a vast increase of the waters upon the earth; as we cannot assign any natural cause for this, we must refer it to the miraculous agency of that mighty Being whose stupendous operations sink into comparative insignificance the entire creation of a globe like ours.

The age of the earth, deduced from the archives of nature, as recorded in the rocks of the earth's surface, has been supposed to be millions of years. This has been thought to impugn the veracity of the Mosaic history, which seems to represent our globe as having been created about 6000 or 7000 years ago. A proper reading of the Bible, however, shows no incompatibility with the facts attested by geology. The six days spoken of in Genesis, during which the work of creation was performed, may have been six indefinite periods of time, each millions of years in length; or, what is more probable, the six days were of the ordinary length; but, previously to the first day, a vast period of time had elapsed, during which all those strata were formed, and those plants and animals lived, the existence of which, previously to our own epoch, is so clearly proved. In this view, the Mosaic creation is to be regarded as a renovation of animal and vegetable life, and a preparation for the reception of man. That such a work was actually performed upon this globe, at the period indicated by the Scriptures, is as clearly demonstrated by geology as by holy writ; for, while we find the vestiges of other races of plants and animals, that lived ages ago, we find no traces of man himself which indicate his existence at a period earlier than that which the Bible establishes.

we find a grand image of the earth, which represents it as "hung upon nothing;" but elsewhere, repeated mention occurs of the "pillars of the earth," and sometimes of the "pillars of heaven." It is evident, in short, that every writer of the Hebrew Scriptures took up the idea impressed upon his sense and imagination by the external view of these grand objects, without endeavoring to arrange them into any regular system. But, although these persons never indulged in speculative geography, yet there are copious examples, in their writings, of minute and careful topography, for practical purposes.

The objects always specified by the Hebrew writers as placed at the furthest limits of their geographical knowledge are, Tarshish, Ophir, The Isles, Sheba, Dedan, The River, Gog and Magog, and the North. The first of these, Tarshish, has been the subject of infinite discussion. It has been supposed by some to be Tarsus, in Cilicia; by others, Tartessus, in Spain, Cadiz, Carthage, &c. By others, again, Tarshish is understood to mean the great ocean.

Ophir was known to the Hebrews as the country of gold. This may have been Dofar, in Arabia, Sofola, on the eastern coast of Africa, or some part of Hindostan, or Further India. On this point, geographers are not agreed.

Under the name of "The Isles," the Hebrew wri ters are supposed to have designated the southern coast of Europe, comprising both the insular and continental parts. Sheba was, undoubtedly, Sabæa, or Arabia Felix. Dedan is thought to have been a port on the Persian Gulf. The River" was the great stream Euphrates. Gog, Magog, and the North, signify the Hyperborean nations in general, the inhabitants of Scythia, Sarmatia, and, perhaps, of the mountainous regions of Armenia and the Caucasus.

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CHAPTER XX.

History of Geography.- Early Notions of Mankind respecting it.-- Scripture Geography.

It appears, therefore, that the primitive Israelites knew little beyond the limits of their own country, the land of Egypt, and the regions lying between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. The Phoenicians or Tyrians, and Sidonians, from the extent of their voyages, surpassed the Israelites in their knowledge of the earth, and they were the first navigators who carried maritime discovery to any considerable extent. As early as the year 1000 B. C., these people had explored the whole of the Mediterranean, as well as the Black Sea, and had settled colonies on their shores. Afterwards, they sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar, then called the Pillars of Hercules, and extended their voyages along the western coast both of Europe and Africa; a party of them in the service of Pharoah Necho, King of Egypt, is said to have circumnavigated the latter continent.

The Greeks, like the Hebrews, were, for the most part, ignorant of the real figure of the earth, and supTHE oldest geographical records are in the sacred posed it to be a vast plain surrounded by an ocean of Scriptures, yet in these books we can discover nothing like a regular system of geography. The Hebrew writers were occupied with higher objects, and do not even allude to any such branch of learning as then in

unknown extent. Beneath the earth were the fabled regions of Elysium or Paradise, and Tartarus, or the place of punishment for the wicked. Above the whole rose the great arch of the heavens, which was sup

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