New-York tribune., 1842-04-04

period-as long ago, at any rate, as the time OF
.Aristotle-shat the Salamenaer was ineonsumable;
and there have been dspositions in great numbers
made before most respectable magistrates, some
of whom are now living, that these creatures have
been seen TO come out OF { FIRE in which they had
been exposed 10 me white heat of GOALS for two
o. .,;ree minutes perfectly uninjured. But after
full examination it turns out that this is en.irel
fable.
will nr,.- Soscrve that although we have no
tG7npie,e specimen OF either the CSeirotherinm
or the L1byrintkodon we have still enough of their
remains to leave no doubt Of their character on
the mind of any rer.an. We have irst in eocks
Of tho same sge in Germany and England the
.nmc footprints. We hare in both countries GER
tain teeth or most rark able strucure peculiar
TO that rock 10 which beosg the animals which
lived al the period when these foet.-.r4ks were
made. We find the hinder extrcmties in each
species as much larger than the anterior portions
.e posierior footsteps are larger than those "t
the forefeet. And lastly we require cir-breathiDg
animals, ard we find ,hu structure OF the nasal
cavity s-ch as 10 show that the LabyriaUtodon was
evidently an ar-brcathing creature.
You may be aware that in this country there
have been found scrce -ernarkable tracks of birds
in the Red Sandstone of ;hc valley of the Conncc-
ticut; and Professor HITCHCOCK he. embodied an
excellent account of them in his final Report of
the Geological Survey of Massachusetts, and has
given some excellent plates not only OF the extinct
species, but also Of the animals and birds that may
nov be found on the shores Of the lakes of Amerii.
ca. It apheacs To ne thai he has completely
made out that several species OF birds existed at
That period which SO far as is known, is Tie same
Rs Nos. 4 and ) in whick GRE found the footsteps
in Europe: and he has found some as large there
e.. ostrich and others again of smaller size The
variety is considerable. He has. found too the
same ripp1emarked. figues--iIl which are seen
casts Of the skeleton. of the cracks in the clay
produced by shrinking. ! have seen as near this
as at Newark, examples Of this sandstone ripple
with casts of the cracks in the su5iaccnt clay
In England there a-e places where occurs clay
which l.5.s ioecn pitted over by small depressons
as though it were done ~ Il shower of rain. You
can see that if rain falls upon sand it will cause
u ptted appearance; and of such re find slab.
containing casts which have bee. called fossil
showers of rain; and Tan, inclined to believe that
thi. is the origin of the appearance, And ! think
that upon this point Mr. REDflELD and myself
will agpe-that in Newark we have slabs inwhich
can be seen the same marks, n,st so exactly repre-
scnting shower Of rain As l!lose in England but
still having 81 close resemblance to them In this
case the marks are III soft shalc and have pits
but when salient casts arc found we have all the
apparent marks OF ran in relief like the footprints
and casts of cracks in the clay. There arc some
beautiful remains of FISH in the saline strata in the
valley of the Connecticut and in parks of New Jer-
scy, some of Which ate upon the table. They are
not In the same beds as the footprints-but in the
same strata-formed deeper under water.
But as | must not dwell too long on any one
subject-as the course am delivering is 80 short,
and as l am desirou. of treating as many subjects
as possiblc-and having already spoken of forma-
ton No. 3, pass the coa-ef the Flora of which
spoke in my last lecture-below the Red Sand.
stone to Strata No. 7, which we see abounding in
fossils and in no part of the world has it so nlag
nifcent development as in New iork, though it
occurs in greater thickness in PENNSYLVANIA. But
there is at least part OF tho world that has been
investigated where we sec the fossil character Of
the different periods 80 well made ont rs in New
York. When come to the subdivisions of this
one formations, you will see at that it forms as
many groups as are represented inthe other table.
The first of these divisions was formerly called
Iransition-but new the Silurian Strata because
it is found mostly in Siiura, region Oh the borders
Of Wales, composed of the border counties Of
Wales and England. 1t has been we'll studied and
this section here exhibited | am indebted 20 Pro-
fe.sor EMMoSs and Mr.. HALL. of the State of
Newly ork. 1t exhibits portions of the results of
their Joint labors; and have had tho advantage
of going the region and seeing the beds in the
order they are here represented
First OF all we have what is called the Mohawk
group, which is 1900 feet thick in the state of
Newly ork and thicker in Pennsylvania ; for the
thickness depends on luca or accidental causes.
If the material of which it i, composed be coarse
the strata will be thick The fine sand will be
floated further out to sea. In this strata occur,
the Trenton limestone-with trilob,es and other
species Of fossils. We have in this strata some
extinct species as the Lingula and Others that
must have lived in the seas. The GraptoHte is
found in the old rocks and is species Of zoophyte
related to the Pennatuia. Iii an example of an
extinct form only found in ancient rocks, never be-
vond the Transition or SilArian Strata. When we
pass to the Red Sandstone we have resemblance
to the more modern rock, of which have before
spoken, in which are found the fossil foot prints.
1t is called the Ontario sandstone because it i,
found along tho horders Of Lake Ontario. The
lower part of the Cliff at Lewiston, in the
Niagara District is the same bed seen horizontally
it is 80, so and in the lower part 130 feet thick.
Of its exact position will speak more ut length
in my next lecture only wish now to point
out the order in which they follow. If you sup
pose Yourself aloft in a balloOn--looking down
over that part of the country, it would present the
appearance in this igure-in which portion OF
the wood is supposed to be cut away that the
geological structure Of the rock can be seen.
Remainder Tomorrow
pULWER'S NEW NOVEL.-Zanoni,