Iowa territorial gazette and advertiser. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa Territory [Iowa]) 1840-1846, 1842-12-10
From the st. Louis Gazette.
AGE OF THE WORLD.

l ss~S ~ - - OASAA~s
The world like many ladies 0: an Gun
certain" or Of s.no particular age" i
rather shy Of the question, How old ar,
you? The geologists and theologians
however, have been at work-the latte
for centuries-the former only recently
Ito solve this interesting question; ant
they are likely to do it, ifthe revelations
Of geology-are Of any value. The way
this latter science attempts to reach it i
pretty much as drovers ascertain the az.
af beet creature, which it is we'll known
| is by the rings round the .horns. So the
geologist, by tho different strata Of lay
ers Of earth and minerals in the .grea
globe which we inhabit, tries to make
out a good guess as to the age Of the
latter. Dr.. Augustine Smith, a professor
we believe, in the University Of New
York, in a recent public lecture, expounda
the doctrines as follows:
"The Geologist asks for only single
concession from those whom he seeks tc
teach: he merely asks them to concede
tina. SHELLS she'll. With the aid Of
this the lecturer thought he should be
able to establish all he wished to prove
|, should be borne in mind that Philoso
ply as at present constituted is merely 9
matter Of fact--and that it must be re
ceived as such--barely as collection ol
facts more or less generaized. As a
collateral proposition to the first he wish
ed to state that she'll is production OF
some animal, and that it must have taken
some time for its formation; moreover,
as shells are now found only in water
so they must always have been formed
under water. If. then, we knew the a.
l,oount Of shells deposited, and the ratio Of
their formation, we should have no diff
Gully in determining the period Of the
first Formation and thus the antiquity oil
the Earth.
Dr.. Smith exhibited shells from each
Of the strata, remarking that as he de-
sce.aded IN the ordor Of the strata, the
shells became less and less like ans Q!
those which nov exist.
No person can suppose the she'll to
have been deposited faster than an inch
a year, which would give about ten years
for foot; though the lecturer thought
fifty years would be much nearer to the
truth. On this superstition, however, tie
formation Of $4,000 feet would require
10000 years.
$3.50 years ago. in the time Of Pindar,*
Mt. Etna had attained an elevation OF
10000 feet. This we have recorded by
Plndar, who speaks Of the lava passing
down aud melting the snow: thus proving
that the snow must at that time have at
tanned that elevation. The formation Of
the mountain, by successive dispositions OF
lava, must have consumed at least O,OO6
years. Adding to this the time we have
already noted, we should have in round
100000 years for the antiquity
Of the Earth. And il SO years be allow
ed for the disposition of foot, as the
lecturer was inclined to think should be
allowed. we should have two millions OF
years as the length Of the whole period.
Some facts connected with this subject
were here mentioned. A pebble picked
UP in the street shows upon its face the
evident action or water; it bears upon It's
face the evident marks Of at,rition.--
What has become of the parts Clipped OIL
by this altrition? They have formed
sand--and thus has all the sand upon the
Deserts Of Sahara-and all
the soil Of the whole globe been produced
by this attrtion Of rocks caused ny
water What length Of time must have
elapsed can readily be imagined.
Upon examining specimen of rock
found in England, it was found to exhibit
at the base, first limestone; lien dirt.
formed and existing for such a length Of
time that trees were found uTon it; then
came fresh water formation; then
salt water formation, and the height OF
the whole was 5000 feet; and no
change has taken place since the time Of
Julius Caesar. When he invaded the
island, then, it is evident that tho
whole had for ages existed in that con-
dition.
No doubt then can be entertained of
the immense antiquity Of the earth, and
that for all that time it has contained the
smaller classes af animals. There is no
necessity Of assigning any definite period
for the existence Of the earth; for IT
there was ever beginning, there must
have been Creator. In the opinion OF
The lecturer, however, the earth had
and he believed it might be
by sound argument.
AS to the occurrence Of the deluge, oil
that could be said was, that the water
which chen was called into being, had
performed its function and then disappear
I'd. This might seem bold statement,
but there was no other, and there was no
need Of farther question concerning It.
Promising to continue hereafter the ge-
neral subject, upon which, he had barely
entered, the lecturer concluded, at THIS
point, his remarks
*rhe extracts printed above are from the New
York Tribune. The reporter Of the lecture for
that paper confounds PIiny with Pindar q per-
haps supposing they were one and the same.
TRAVELLING BY STEAM ROUND THE
PLANr URANUS The circumference OF
the orbit in which Uranus rcvolyes about
the sun is II 81 500, 600 ofmlles, through
which it moves in 3O,686 mean solar