Litchfield enquirer., 1835-09-24

tne crust or tue eafth. lie believed that eSe cry thing but the human soul was progress iVely fOrmed; the infant is not ut Osce a man; the labor of l"ug l;fc is necessary to acquire correct views iO any One department of knowledge. He knew the common, indeed he might say the universal impression lat first Co be, that the world instantaneOusly came in- ia being in is present state. without progress Or Improvement, that the Creator simply cal !ed ii "u' of nothing into the very form and condition in which it now appears. He un. hesita'ngly declared it as his belief that this impression could not be correct; G0d might have s0 created the world; but he had not chosen to create it.: as an abundance of facts most clearly evinced. It was unfair and unmanly iO wink these facts Iut Uf sight, or to deny them, or to cling to old theory. just as if they did not exist. The only way
 was to meet them fairly, and admit their fn!i force. In SD doing, neither the hlbie nor sci
 ence would suffer, or be found incoOsistent
 with. each other.
 In September 18St, near EdinburG, Fossils
 were discovered, supposed |" be 6sh; aud Q"
 being examined by an eminent Swiss pr"tes'
 sor, who has devoted himself |" the claSsisi'
 cation, and the entire history of all the pc. triied fishes in the world, these were found
 to be class of fish before nnsnOwn, and
 sort of connecting link between the lizard and
 the common fish. Hence this newly d'scnV' cred kind was called the sauran fish. The lecturer, in view of this fact, said the chain of being was wonderful from the highest seraph
 to the lowest reptile, that probably but few facts had as yet been discovered; that the progress of geological science was and must
 be onward; that every change must be the
 furnishing of new proof; that we kns~S we were on the right track; We had possession
 of the key which unlocked all science; as that key was the icductiye or Baconan sys- tenn of philosophy.
 Mir. Silliman said that the Swiss professor had already examined ten thousand specimens of fossil fish !; and had given it as his opinion that at least hundred species are now ex- tinct. What is called the saurian period or reign. was from the formation of the sand stone to that of the chalk. To the question. why those mighty animals described iu the last lecture, such as the ichthyosauros, the piesiosaurOs. the negalosaurus, iguanadun, were now extinct, the lecturer replied that man could not have lived with them; that the earth was not at that time when they fHurished in state to he inhabited by man, as It was made up of islands and lagoons and moreover 1t was of very high tenpera- ture, which Is always profuse in animal and vegetable life {; and the change in the temper ature had probably put an end to these ani- mals, though they might occasionally have been discovered by convulsions. He further said that the organization nf these animals showed them to be capable of suspendinS their respiration, or of carrying 1t on in very limited manner, knosEn to be true of the frog, the alligator. and many cold blood ed animals ofthe present day. The saurians could live for long time without breathing and could live too where there was an abun- dance Of carhonic acid, which doubtless was very prevalent in their age and 1t is now sup pused that the carbonate of lime constitutes one third of the crust of the globe. Several of these enormous saurians have already been foand ia this country, particularly in New Jersey.
 The chalk came on upon the wealdon for nation. The chaiky cliffs of England are formed by the undermining of the sea. Chalk Is the last of the secondary formation. The primary is the lowest, including the granite, ] and extending upwards to the top of the mica l slate. The transition goes from the mica slate to the top of the coal; the secondary from the top of the coal to the top of the chalk. Then comes On the tertiary. which is the last in the geological arrangements There Is a peculiariiy of scenery and of agri- l culture in chalk country; the land being in beautiful curves. with gentle broad sweeps, producing short, sweet grass, and having a remarkably dry, though not rich soil. The chalk formation exists in this country, though tne chalk itself has not yet been fOnnd.-l what ID some. instances has been supposed to be chalk when first discovered, has turned out to be plastic clay. which resembles chalk in appearances, though on being wet and rubbed in the hands becomes plastic. as chalk does not, and also refuses to efftrvesce on the ap- plication of acid, which chalk does not. The fossils belonging to the chalk formation have been found in sNew-Jersey. The professor said We had the members of this family, though the head was absent, yet he would probably be yet discovered in some part of} our country. s~ et l
 The stone used in the Photographic art be- longs to the middle of the polite form ation.- The only stone that has as yet been appro- prlated to this art is obtained near Munich in 1 Germany; and is a compact lime-slone.--l The chief part of the process in iithography IS, to render the stone smooth, to draw the figure ap0n if, to give d slight prOminence to the figure by means of an acid, and then to apply the roller. @ Mir. Silliman said he was believer in the sea serpent that if any fact could be estab- lished by human testimony, the existence of the sea-serpent had been so established. MT. Bakewell, from the accounts he had seen of this animal, concluded it must be saurian.- The Lecturer said there was no doubt a vast serpent had heen seen in the sea, if it was not sea -serpent. '"@"i t.4i
 He then proceeded to the tertiary forma ton POsskc la r.sA sf Scaa 0nlv aeSOnl