The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1851-04-04
D. IsGHyf yf1..I 10 ,F,.9 sli Q, 80 ~
IRON the Philadelpbiq Saturday Express, J
THE NATURAL SCIENCES Z
THE EARTH's Crust. AND ITS

iIlEf lam - lsoBi NJ w ~ rNBTh /
|rsmeieis REVELATIONS has
oaLetus descend With him,apd traverse
an ideal section of. a portion ofjheleariNs1
crust. Quitting the living surface otstbe
green earth, and en,eringoh ioara down.
ward path, our fl st step y,tako us be'
low thedust oiaAdam, and oeyond ;lpe
Limits OF recorded iime.7 Fronihe mo /
ment lweieave ihe mere sprface-soll, san'i
l,ouch even the nearest df tie kestidry
|beds. all traces of human remains dtsapI
pear, so that let our grave be as shallew
ns itlmaY even in. the,lalesl slrallhedtbed,
we have to make il ni,hey dust OF AIDE
rar,sd world, Formalion now follows
formation, composed chishylef sand, and
lclny, and 6mes spreseptlnga "a thickness "i
more than Il thousand feet each. As we
descend through theses one ofahe most
Sublime 6ctionss Of mythology becomes
sober truth; for, our eyerSslep an age
lilies past I'VE fpa, ourselves on a road
where the lapse ofdu aiou is marked--
not by the succession Of seasons and soi
,ears.---bu, by the slow excayallon,, by
water, of deep Sailies in lock marble; by
1.-The return ora lcun,ipcnt TO the bosom ol
Ian ocean in which ages before i had
been slowly formed-7or by ,he depart
ure of one world, and the formation OF
uno,ber. And, accordingly, -four brstslep
i,ook us below the line which is conse-
Grated by human dust, we have TO take
bu, a few steps more, before we begin
Ito find that he fossil remains Of all those
, forms of animaltlfe with which We are
most familiar, are diminishing, and that
+ their places are gradually supplied by
strange and, yet stranger formsi i'll u
n the last fossilferous formation OF this. d.
r vision, traces Of existing species become
extremely rare, aud extinct species every
where pfedominaie. sasf .aUgy ln9t0f II
: "Tbe Secondary rocks receive us as
into a ne W fossiliicrous, world, or into a
G new series of worlds. Taking The chalk
formation as tie st member goi thy
II series. we iud siraii6ca'ion Of upwards
rofa thou sand feet thick. Who shall com
Dute the tracts Of time necessary tor "
k slow sedimenary disposition! SO vas
i. was it, and so widely different were y
nbvs,cal conditions from, those whlc
cl ifullowed, that only one trace OF the az
|imalspecies s,ilNliying is 5e6sound J
win Crowded al il is with concLologlc'
i remains, for example, not shell OF on
ofa,l the sevea thousand existing speclee
,e ;s dlscoyerable. Types Of organic ili'
e before unknown, alr'st our at'enlio'
@ md prepare us for still more su-prlsln
IN forms. Descending TO the system ne,
I'd in ordet-oolitir--wi,hr its many subd
,g visions. and It's thickness OF about ha
mile. we recognise new prop's, aol "
N da,eless antiquity of the earth, o 70
n enormous, as this bed is, il was obvious
formed by desposlion (romjsea and r'v
water. And so. gradual and tranquil "
es the operation, that, in some Places y
organic remains of the successive slra
al are arranged with a shelve:lke reguIlfi
% ;,v. reminding us Of The well order order
p canine, ola naturalist. Here, too, !,
-, trace of animal species still LIVING !,
~ vanished. Even this link is sone.v y
~ I'd have reached point when lhe earth "
= in the posession Of the gigantic forms
ara Saufian rep,les--moasl'rs moFc apps
ov. ing ,hpn the poets fancy tfyer aielgpe
ish and these are their calaco~ps, pfscs =.
, r,v ding though the latter red sandstone a
ar saIferous marls or,lw, thousand feet
u, thickness. aud Which exhibit, IN their
lad rieoa,ed,s,raia, succession oi numerf
Nv. physical changes, out ,subleraln,eHalnl l, p
ced brinos us to the carbonifer9us system,
,be coal formation These coal strata, mi
3D. thousands Of feet thick, consist en'lr
: is of the spoils, Of successive ancient yei
lee able worlds But in The rank ja1ng'e'ss
n Mxuriar nj v iide.ness which are here
dei. cumuia,ed and compressedsw we rec
and Mise no plantos any existing species
70 Here too, We have passed below
hes las, trace Of reptile life, The speak
ia IN foot prints impressed on the precced
mi, lrocks are absent here.s Nor IS there
' single, convincing, Indication tlat III
nrimeyal forests ever echoed TO 'hev'
srpe Of BIRDS But setween these strala'
,ran of, limestone Of enormous thickness
lIour I in,erposed each proclaimiag the pro
be [aed existence and final extinction
icut cation. For these Limestone Ioees e 3
,lier mot SO much the charnel- houses, Of I
the Eanimals as the remains Of the AMI
lar. themselves. ,eas sH! abaF (. a9eza
re- of "The mountain masses Of stone e., "
,ess. now surround us, extending ior nue. m
o1t Length and breadth, were once SEN y.
oden exis,ences-tes,aceous and corslhp
phor.l living a,,he bottom Of ancient seas
,ohol -.---- elftbanmi W3 .aG3 - 8 ,aa
,s.,h, M *Fossil footprints have been found y
,oup' . old red sandstone rocks of Pennsylya
htle nncb lower down than the new req
en- Of s,one. which DR.. H. here supposcs to ea
,your sbe last traces of reptiles. II was onc'
.Iyl. iieved that animals were succe sslyely 9
S n ,be order of their relative perfection
q =, ,bSi % do most ancient formations cont
lev onjv j animals Of the lowest grade, TO
her the higher forms Of animal lie succeed
d, on This theory, however, is, now en,el !.
IL. s.