New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1842-01-14

lion or story OF their erup,ions has survived tyen
Julius Cesar wha traveie1 among them ana pun
ed his camp al the foot OF ore OF ihclalse
no mention or even aluslen to thelH az -
,,d ohsarvant a traveller would scarcely havo
omitted it had any such eruption taheh PiaSc ~
,be L,ouleIge of his time. But al along the
pb;,e ,breueh Hungary, Pennsylvania, and Cata-
- "a we'll as in Palestine, Syria and Central
,bore i evidence that volcanoes have existed
,n,,erfu in their action as Ve5u@iu5 or Elm.
We are told rs DARWIN, who travelled in that re.
zion that in the Centre OF South America near the
] Equator nav be seen two or three hundred OF
these extinct volcanoes.
It we'll established concerning volcanoes, that
many OF them have a submarine origin; that they
began their action at the bottom Of the sea, and
went on piling up their matter until they finally
rose above the surface and constituted Islands
This is the history o; multitude OF vocanoes-=nor
is there any reason in Nature why the should aot
break forth at the bottom Of the Ocean. The i'm
rncnse power Of this volcanic action may De infer
red from the consideration that, Tor every hundred
fee, OF water, there /. pressure of fifty pounds up
on q square inch, and that the sea Is from four 70
FIVE miles in depth and vet against this immense
force the internal matter Is thrust forth with Ire.
rnendous velocity In this way in 1881 an island
arose off Sicily but the "scanlc action soe1 sub
! sided and the island has now sunk beneath the
! surface OF the sea.
- We -l now pass from these 10 the rocks upon
the land, which haye the same origin, thoughts
action is not the tcap-rocks. porphyrs. SER
pentine and soap-stone are igncous volcanic
rocks and they may be met in almost ever portion
! Of the country, The Palisades on the Hudson are
splendid specimens Of the uap-rocks There Is
4 also a long range running across New.Jerseg and
the same may be met in various parts OF New-kug-
i Iand-especially in observation-disclosures in some
the Western States. TIE ,rap-rocks= al! present
evidence that they have been forced from The ABYSS
below by the action OF volcanic fires. Granite is
nov generally assigned TO the same class The
important fact is also ascertaned that al the
mountains on the globe have been formed By tine
elevation of the surface through the action of sol!
| canic fire.
Prof. Sillinan then went on TO show how far the
evidence in favor OF this gneoqs origin was decisive
and satisfactory. The stratitied rocks pierced by
veins of granite, and granite beds trayetscd by
veins of mica, quartz, feldspar, and ether conPo-
nents The rocks near Boston and Salem, which
are found ntersected by the most beautiful veins
of baaalt, were all placed in the category, and
regarded as strong evidence of the correctness OF
this view..Thev all establish the two great facts
of elevation and subsdencc and observations upon
Mont Blanc. the highest peaks Of the White Noun
tains, and of the Rocky Mountains, and OF the An
1 des in South America, tend TO confirm the same.
II then alluded TO the metallic veins about
i whose origin there has been much speculation.
They are usually me, in the earliest rocks and pass
i ing the next class they stop at the secondary
Fissures have been found in the rocks and these
veins deposited either rising in subIimaton-ntl tie
fsrm Of vaFor-or by the action of galvanic power.
The doctrine that they spring from infltrationi Is
now given up Whatever their origin may have
been their uses in human society and The aid they
have bestowed upon the advancement OF ciyiliza-
ten and all useful arts, we'll known.
| next ask your attention TO the class OF rocks
which lie upon these gness mica, slate hornblende
&c These which arc called stratificd rocks are
to be found extensively in New England, in the
Alpine regions ofNcwiork, and in the Allegheny
| Mountains and they figure largely in the general
structure of the world. They lie in lakes, which
are easily separated from each other and thus
extremely valuable for quarryiag. LyeIlcalls them
metamorphous rocks. Norcmans OF living beings
nrc found in the earliest rocks the inference
of course Is that such beings were not in existence
when there rocks were formed.
diagram was then exhibited 10 illustrate the
proportion between the whole mas of the Earth
and the mountains upon It's surface to SLOW that
the power which has thrown up these peaks is not
as great as might at first be supposed, since the
highest elevations the surface Of the Earth do
not bear great proportion TO lis whole mass "a
do the roug Illnesses upon the rinds OF an orange To
its bulk and single grain of s2ud upon the sur
face of foot globe would be proportionnbly
larger than the Hmu1elaya Mountains.
In Italy, near Naples, are found the remains OF
temple, supposed to be that of Jupiter Scraps.
These columns Mr.. LYELL has examined, and the
results are TO be found in his works. AS
can be ascertaned, the temple erected at about
the commencement of the Christian Era the
names Of severa! Roman Emperors found en-
craven upon Its misunderstanding That II was con-
tomporancous with them. 1t was probably de-
s.royed not earlier lEanlhc third century, by no
very violent CONFUSION else none OF Its columns
would be standing. In the limestone of these
columns onnd the peforaiions and shells Of the
lithodomous fish, whicllhuve the powcr-wtether
mechanical or chemical s=not known-ot boring
into rock. These pcrioratlons are made, tile hsh
gets IN and cannot get out again, which, as his food
comes in from the sea, matter of but little
sequence. He dies and there leaves his she'll
| Now here is decisive evidence of the doctrine OF
subsistence aud elevation. Ofcoursc, the columns
when built were above the waves but they have
been below, the existence of these pcrtorutions
abandanty proves. These columns We're not dis
covered until forty years age.
| vii! mention one or two other facts which
farther illustrate theory. II had been
marked for more than century that Sweden was
gradually rising out of the waves and from the
descriptions of De Luc Celsius and others twas
concuaed that d recession was taking place in the
Baltic Sea- But i, is proved that they mis-
took the facts MIR. Lvell visited the locality in
1884, and found that the marks IN the rocks esta-
5lishea By the Swedish government had sensioiy
! of ftJg