The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-12-30
DIR. AntiseIIs Lecture on Geology.

DIR. Antisel is a. present delivering course Of leo
lures geology, In the lecture room Of the Hope
Chapel No. f2d Broadway which extremely inte-
resting and instructive. lie mmenced on the 10th
instant, and will continue them Mondays and
Tbursdsys, until he concludes the course lie has
divided his subject Into FIVE parts epochs, viz -
the primary epoch, the transition period the carbo
niferous epoch, the rertan epoch volcanic agencies
nd the modcrn epoch. The lecture the transition
period was delivered last Monday and that on the
,arboni,rous period last evening The term carbon
arses from the fact that during tho period no
named there were fsrmea immense deposits OF matter
posed CT vegetables of that period which formed
The vast beds Il eesl ~ be found In different parts OF
ibe world being In some places; tSsye Of thirteen N
the fe1ss Of srlta that compose the surface Of the
earth The formation Of coral rocks and reefs formed
ptomine Mt feature OF last evenings leisure aud the
lecturer exhibited specimens Of the various vaeties
and by diagrams illustrated the peculiaTties OF the
manner In which the ect works and cJnstructs those
barriers which surround islands and form component
part Of this continent being found in various parts OF
the interior, and In great Quantities In the Aleghany
fMountains, thus proving that not only at one time
we're those mountains srged aud at remote
period uphsaved by underground force, but that the
climate Of this part q the world then tropical be-
cause the coral nrect could not exist In water a. cold
a. that by which are a. percent surrounded Such
tropical heat was produced not BY the suns rays bat
b. Of the globe itself The coral forms those
eks and re.s BY abstracting the lime from the sea
water and depcsting Il on the inner surface Of its
body In process q time the insect die. and It's young
attach Themselves to the lime which the parent formed
Iud in turn contribute. 20 thu structure and thus the
Work IL continued until ~ reaches the surface When
| by drifts and by buds-in time coil to sufficient
Idepth " deposited It, and Il becomes hsbitabe for
man. IL remarkable TACT, too. that almost All OF
the island. formed Inhabited BY human beings
when discovered having been driven by stress Of
weather or accident on them from remote places
hen the surface % the water Ia reached the nsest
works lst.rsliy The tropical climate existing Ia the
csrbcrerous period, vegetation such a. nov see In
the tropics existed IL consisted principally OF ferns
of different varieties some Of which had stems ninety
feet in has been Uncovered This vegetable
after formed the vast coal beds which existin this
country, both anthracite and bitumnous The dihe-
=, nee between anthracite aud bituminous coal
ri aimed. Whee eruption ofmoten rock took place
the bitumeu OF the coal nearest the extracted
BY the great heat aud the further you 20 from the To-
cstons where the ptons occurred the mere btu
m en- there i In the coal Anthracite coal therefore u
nothing less than coal, the bitumen Of which was
.tracted In that way both Kinds being originally the
came. Anthracite coal Is never found except in re-
rons where there ~ good for believing intense
u. nj from under ground time existed Nobirds
kyepiles mammaia existed ct tts psri0d In cone-
Of the great quantity a carbonc acid which ~
supposed q have been mixed with the atmosphere
then and ~hch, with the tropical heat contributed 70
produce the immense vegetation This superstition Is
gthentd ~ the fact that in places In Java
aud Sumatfs animal life cannot exist but vegetation
nourshes in great scale IN consequence OF the great
nusntty Of carbonc acid arising from the grou1d
Through assures caused by volcanic action The ex-
tent Of the vegetation which must have existed NJ the
time those coal beds In process OF forrsauon mey
be inferred from the fact that all the vegetation that
N,uld be produced in hundred years would not,
roiui. - ~ ra.s At which IL grows, cover the
earth 20 the depth Of hal inch All OF those ops
rntions and changes TO which we have referred were
ilustrated satisfactorily by diagrams, much 70 the
eadcaton Of the sudience Who highly pleased as
well ss instructed by what they heard and saw The
next lecture will be delivered a. the same place,
(ionday evening next