Litchfield enquirer., 1835-09-24
LECTURES ON GEOLOGY,
BY PROFESSOR SULLIVAN.


 EIaRrR LEcrURE-MAY 15.-At the com nencement of this Lecture professor SIlii- man remarked that the dislocation Of strata of coal hy dikes of trap, sometimes removed one part above or belOw the other to the dis taOcs of six hundred feet, as had been ascer- !! tsinad sjp England. The inhabitants of coal regions discover coal by black spots an Ihe suTface of, the earth, which they call coal blossoms. Local deposites are tn the shape of basins, thus affording evidence |" believe that they were originally formed in Iakes.-l The structure of coal is ligneons as IS plainly tliscernible. Vegetables derive support from carbon, which was probably created OrlgInaliy in the lOam of mineral carbon.
 Amethyst is said by Pliny to be derived from two Greek words, signifying not to be drunken; and the same writer also states that this mineral was worn by the ancents at their Eeasts as an amulet to protect them a gainst intoxication. They believed they might drink many cups with impunity, ifthey wore this stone about them. The amethyst is represented as saying; '.I an not drlnk, though k0Ue red fdce."
 The lecturer, in his explanatory remarks, likewise stated that gypsum was valuable as a manure only in those soils in which there Is not already enough. as is the case in some instances; and he said that 1t was n mistake to suppose 1t was not good for lands exposed io the sea-vapor. The sea has the highest degree of saltness at the tropics. as evapora- tion goes on there the most rapidly. The ocean probably has access to vast beds of salt in theea In salt tmanufactoriess 1t is found that slow evaporation makes the best salt. In Scotland the process is carried on continually. though the fires are not kindled on Sunday but permitted to cool down in some measure, with a diminished evaporating power; aud in consequence of this arrangement they have what is called Sunday salt. which is the mes. valuable ofany in the market.
 The Professor then proceeded to Lias lime
 stone. by which term he said was meant what lies or is extended flat. This formation he described as containing more fossils, or re- mains of animals, especially of the lizard tribe, than any other. There are lizards of all si- 7es, from an inch to twenty five feet. Ali gators and crocodiles are included in this fam fly. We cannot tel why SD great variety of these animals were created, any more than ] we can tell why ratiiesnake is created with ] his poisonous fang. Doubtless they were all 1 created for good purpose. though man Is moi 1 able tO see it. The mOluscous animals which 1 is that class without backbones, and which l are son, as the oyster and snail. begin with the polite formation. But the animals which Nr. SiIiman said he was then about to des- cribe began with the lias limestone. It is a fact worthy of notice, that the bituminous limestone of this country contains the same kind of fish which Is found in the same stone in Germany. This fact and many others 1 that hare been well ascerfained, confirm The general proposition, that the same strata of rocks eDntain ihe same organic remains throughout the world.
 stSsAts na-4 atone in Ensaand. were described in must I interestiug manner. it is we'll faT The present puny inhabitants Of inc world, as the iecturrr remarked, that these wonderful animals are extinct.
 The ichthyosauros had jaws fen feet in length, and eyes whose orbits were ten inches in diameter, with teeth in proportion. The plesiosauros, somewhat different in form, must haze been fifty feet in length and the megalosaurus, according to the sure principles of comparative anatomy, must have been sev- enty feet. The remains of these animals are fannd embedded in quarries of rock near OK ford in England; and it is believed they were either aqueous or amPhibious. that they lived Hpon each other. and that England at the time when they fourished was made up of low marsby islands. and lagoons. ,
 In the wealdon formation in England. which is interposed between the polite and chalk, and which is composed of clay and sand stone, has been discovered a monster which Cuvier called gigantic, herbiverous reptile. This was not marine animal. It had teeth for eating grass. being saw shaped and pointed. Its teeth resembling those of the iguana, an animal ofthe Wss. India Islands this animal has received the name of iguanedon. It was 100 feet long. with limbs equal to the body of an OK, of an height of twelve feet, of cir conference of fifteen, and with d foot six feet in diameter. This was a inastcating. land animal. with deimal bones hke coat of mail. The lias limestone is fresh water ferma ton; and it implies thatits present situation in England was once a vast estuary, or the mouth of large river. At that period Eng land did not exist as it now does; it was prob ably joined to the continent; as the present channel is only about four hundred feet deep.
 Chalk is a marine formation exclnsively.-I When it was formed, the land must have a. gain been submerged. One mile below the surface in this formation. fu0tmarks have been discovered. supposed to be those of the tor t0ise. No yiviparous vertebrated animals are found either within or below the chalk forma tiCn all animals below are Oyiparous!-( Chalk occupies the middle and the eastern and southern shores of England. Hence that country has been called Albion meaning whiteness or chalk. This substance is abun- dant in Europe, covering one third part of 1t may have been thrown out from the interi. or of tho earth by volcanic eruption. The reason the fish found in it retain the round ness of their original shape. may be that chalk at first came round the fish in a soft plastic