Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1851-01-30

''''' Nv P'SSS''t tel"eCN
the students of Amherst College and tie
young ladies Of Son.h Hadley Seminary,
may it not be the last" Be assured 1t was
not the last engagement. After that, the
advocates of Union, Of certain kind,
were no, few. And how many happy
marriages were occa>ioncd through tie
enterprise OF those young men and ladies,
| cannot now justly relate. Ipresume no
gentleman lessened himself in the eyes of
those young ladies', on that day. Nosen.
siOle, intelligent lady or gentleman desp-
ses a man because he enters into labori.
Gus occupations with hearty good will.
Not man of us can lie of any use in the
community in which we dwell, without
diligence in some calling.
The State Of the World before Adams time.
Among the millions Of human beings
that dwell OH the earth, how few are those
who think OF irquiring into its past his,o-
ry. The annals Of Greece and Rome are
impaired 10 our children as necessary
and important branch Of education, while
the history ofthe world itself is neglected,
or at the most is confined to those who are
destined for a scientific profession; even
adults are content TO receive on hearSay a
vague idea that the globe was in being lor
some underlined period preceding the era
OF human history, but few seek TO know
in what state it existed, or what appear
ance il presented.
Hundreds Of thousands of years ago,
the earth, now so busy and full of life,
rolled Oh IFS cea>eIess course, a vast, des-
olate, and sterile globe. Day and night
succeeded one another, and season follow
ed season, while yet no living form exist
ed, and still The sun rose upon arid, ver-
durelcss continents, and hot, cauldron- like
seas, on which the steamirg vapor and
heavy i"g> sal like an incubus. This j.,
the earliest period Of which we CLEAN any
positive record, and il is probable that
previous to this era the universe was in d
state Of incAnde>cence, or intense heat, j.,
and that by the gradual cooling of the
globe, the external surface became hard, ,
and formed a firm crust, in The same man
ner tina, molten lead, when exposed to the
cold air, hardcnS on the surface. The
vapors which previously foaed around
this heated mass. in like manner became
partially condensed, and gradually accu-
mu!"ling in the hollowS, formed the boil
ing seas which in after ages were destined
10 lie vast receptacl.s ,.eming With life.
As uieh, be expected, this era was
marked hy vast AMI Violent cunvuIsions ;
volcanoes raged aud threw up molten
granite, earthquakes heaved and upliited
continents, seas were displaced aud iuun-
dated the land. and still Tie earth was en-
,e!opel in vapor and mist, arising from
The high temperature, and the light most
probably penetrated only sufficiently 10
produce a >ickIy twilight, while the sun
shot luril rays through the dense and fog
~ atmo>p pherc. Such world must ha, e
been Incompatible with either animal or
vegetable life, and we accordingly find no
remains of either in the rocks which be-
long to this early period; their principal
characteristic is a highly crystalline APP
pcarancr, giving strong prcsumpli,c evil
dence Of the presence OF great heat.
After this era o! desolation and gloom
We enter upon what is technically termed
the "Transiiion Period,' and here we be-
gin to mark the gradual preparation OF the
globe for the reception OF It's destined in
habitants. The change is, however, al
first very slight, and there is evidence Of
frequent convul>ions and Of a high degree
of temperature; but the action Of fire ap-
pears to have declined in force, and aque-
ous agencies are exerting Themselves
The earlier portion of this formation is
rendered peculiarly interesting ly the
fact, that during il, the most ancient forms
OF life sprans into existence.
The presence of coral shows, that al
though the transition seas had lost their
high temperature, yet they retained a suf-
ticient degree of heat TO encourage the de-
velorment Of animals requiring warmth.
10 the coral ani,na)cule or polype we
owe much O! the vast limestone beds which
are found in every pxt of the world, and
productions ofthe earth finds a grave on the
sunken reefs that are the fruit OF IFS labors.
As ages elapsed, and the universe be-
came better adapted for the reception Of
life the waters swarmed with zoophytes
and in the silurian strata we find organic
remains abundant; shell-iish are numerous
and distinct in form, and in some instances
display very interesting anatomical con-
strlIction. As an instance we may mention
the trilobi,e, an animal OF the crus!acean
order; the front part Of lis body formed a
large crescent shaped shield, while the
binder portion consisted of a broad TRAN
gular tail, composed Of secmen's folding
over each other like the tail Of a lobster;
its most peculiar organ, however was the
eye, which was composed OF four hundred
minute spherica. lenses placed in separate
compartments, and so situated that in the
animals usual place at the bottom Of the
ocean i. could see every thing aronnd.-
This kind of eye is also common to the ex-
listing butterfly and drason-iiy, the former
OF which has 35, 900, and the latter $4,000
lenses.
Passing on now TO the period when the
great chalk rocks which prevail SO much
in the south eastern counties Of Great
Britain were deposited, we find the land
in mary places submerged, the fossil re-
mains are eminenty marine in character,
al ,L. o,.,L ,rus, l;tsr.Ilv \ ,ve presant