Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1842-03-14
MONTPELIER, MARCH ii, 1912.

lies ia beds Of uniform structure, found lying
like pile Of books composed of grey limestone,
sandstone, black coal and shale or slate. The beds
vary in Insight from the thickness Of a knife blade
TO that Of fifty feet the hckest are found in Penn
sylvania. The anthracite coal is the product Of
vegetable deposte; and no leaves or flowers could
be laid away in a ladys herbdrium with more reg
uary than are these strata. AS the leaves fell
from the trees they were covered with mud, as
were also trees themselves. The vegetation Of
that day resembled ths brake or fern OF the pres
ent day but it then reached the height Of some
twenty feet, whereas they are now no more than
two feet high The bark has a leaf.like appear
ance, as il stamp had been impressed on it. At
Wikesbarre the leaves may be seen more than
four feet across Il is remarkable TINT coal beds
are found only in cold climates-just where they
are wanted, But from the character aud superior
size Of the vegetables OF those days, is evident
that originally the climate must have been tropical,
or ultra-tropical. If piece Of n'hrncite be bro
ken in the direction Of it's layers it will exhibit an
appearance like charcoal, and even the cells which
contained the juices Of the vegetable may be irac'
ed. Fissures are often found across the mines
caused by internal volcanic COMMISSIONS and in
Europe trap dykes often cut through them so
that the miner in tracing the direction of The vein,
often comes 10 one OF these dykes, and II requires
great skill and experience TO know in what drec-
ton he is then 10 look for his coul. When these
dykes cut across, OIL either side the coal is bitun-
nous-but at a distance Of some fifty or hundred
feet its former character is recovered. This is
caused by the agency OF the heat which produced
the dyke; and Prot Blackwell was greatly sur
priped that anthracite coal should be found at all
in Pennsylvania, subjected as il has undoubtedly
been 10 the action of heat which decomposes the
coal and leaves little but carbon.
Next above the coal comes the new red sand-
stone 1t is the seat Of salt mines-both rock salt
and brine springs In Cheshire Eng, in Poland,
Cordovia, and Central Asia rock salt is found in
abundance. DIR. Robinson tells u.s. in his late work,
that the Dead Sea contains 25 per cent. Of salt
The Caspian Sea, and Lake Orumnin in Persia,
IRE salt lakes. BY the action OF the sun the water
is often evaporsted, leaving white girdle of salt
completely around these lakes. Vast tracts in Per-
STA thus lying under the sun blazing from a brass
sky are as sterile and barren an can be conceived.
In this country until recently, il was supposed that
we had no mineral salt-tbough our brine springs
are we'll known. But last year real salt mine OF
forty feet thick was found in Abingdon, Va, which
new feature in the Geology Of Virginia we shall
undoubtedly have brought out by MIR. Rogers, the
State Geoogist. Gypsum, or plaster Of Paris, is
found in the same formation but have time TO
say nothing of il.
In Germany, in England, in Scotland, in Massa.
chusetts and in Connecticut are found external
Impressions upon the sand stone rock in some
places resembling the hand Of man, though of
course it is not to be supposed thut il il the i'm
preston of hand. The unknown animal that
nhue tnem eVlueUtty walked NlODR on inc bOIt
surface leaving indentaions which were filled in
by matter deposited, and thus two impressions
one concave and the other convex, were produc
oil and now when the rock is split open we find
both Of them. The animal which made these
trucks has been named Chiroiheriun, and it re-
manned unknown until last year, when Mr.. Owen
found it's bones, and by the aid Of comparative
anatomy, in which he was next to Cuvier, he prov
ed that it must be larger than OK, and what do
you think it was !? Nothing than frog,
large as an OK! Ii is not certain, to be sure, that
il would pass for a frog now; but in general con-
fguration it had strong resemblance TO this spe-
cies of animals. Now l assure You TINT u this
were mere fiction, story of the Arabian Nights
Entertainments, / would not bring il forward but
it is among tho demonstrations of science. 1t is
fact, that in the days when the coal was formed
nothing but rep,iles.existed. There were below
tie coal none that brea,hed the air, none that had
II voice the Earth was covered with evergreen
1t pleased the Creator next TO give being 10 ami
mails having feet.
Prof Silliniau then went into description of
the archaeological discoveries Of Prof Hitchcock
in the valley of the Connecticut; by which it is
seen that birds existed here tall enough 10 walk
The streets and look in at oui chamber windows,
and whose tracks in The rock are now MS distinct
as those of a hen in IL barnyard. AS we have al
ready given sketch Of these in our report of Prof.
Hnchcock's lecture, we shall not repeat it,
Passing higher, we find still greater wonders
In the Gas structure we find remains of the petri-
fled spawn OF fshos, and these exist in great num-
beers in England ard France We find, also, the
Plesiosdurus and the Ichthyosauuus, furnished with
paddles 10 make their way rapidly through the
ocean.
Prof. Silliman went on to speak of species of
alligator which once existed, that had the power
OF contracting The lenses OF its eye by compress
sion of the humors, SO as 10 convert either into
a telescope or microscope; Of which several spe.
cies have been found at Bristol, Brighton and York
in England He mentioned, also, the flying Sau-
rians, which existed when England was only a
half-iormed island, filled with lagunes, among
| which these animals swan. He described, also,
! The herbiverous Saurans, resembling the modern
| iguanadon: but as these topics were fully treated
by Prof. Hitchcock, we shall not give his remarks
| upon them at length.
| Near Oxford have been found remains of The
| MegaLosaurius which was one Of the Inarsupal
animals, those tina. have pouches like the opos-
SUN. The kangaroo is of the same species.
We pass next TO the chalk formation, which is
especially conspicuous in England giving by its
white cliffs all along Oh both sides the channel,
that beautiful white appearance which has confer-
red upon the fast anchored isle the name OF Al
bion. This is the last Of the Marine Strata before
we come 10 change in the order of creation
| These seem TO be the debris or ruins Of coral OF
mutopular shells, which we find in Bermuda. -
Coral cliffs exist within the tropics at depth, as
we now know, not greater than 100 feet. They
| are formed by animals, thousands and millions OF
which may no seen at work through the blue depths
of the calm They often build them in the
shape Of horse shoe, with the outer edge toward
the trade Winds and thus are often formed har-
bors for weather beaten ships--oiten thirty miles
in diameter. They often rise above the waves
and form islands upon these birds drop seeds
from other lands; trees grow up and the island is
covered with vegetation; animals, lizards and 9th
er species are foated by ice, and colony is esab-
lshed and soon man goes hher, planls his proud
flag, and claims it for his own 1t 10 not beyond
the reach Of probable conjecture that some day
the Pacific, by the labor Of these animals, may be
bridged over, and its watery waste become the seat
Of Civilization, Christianity and Empire.
Prof. Silliman then spoke at considerable length
OF the tertiary rocks and the shells found in them
and referred especially to the phenomena Of this
kind discovered in Italy among che Apprentices,
and in the Vale de Motto in Sicily. In the stratum