Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1853-04-21

with the regular formations constituting
, the crust of the globe, nor with the fos-
, sils imbedded in them, which were wrap
ped up in the foaming strata, as the ma
terials were brought about them, by sed-
iment or crystalization. The universal
dispersion of arranged and unconsolda-
ted stones, gravel sand, clay, &C., (called
drift)over the surface of the globe, would
seem fairly referable to gener al rush of
turbulent waters. We do not, however,
find in the drift any remains of man or of
his works, and there have been many To-
cal deluges and much diluvial action
while the continents and islands were G.
merging from the waves. Still, it may
reasonably be admitted that portien of
the drift may have been moved and de-
posted by the deluge, and possibly some
Of the remains of the huge animals. The
= rhinoceros found in the upper part of
cavern, must have been brought in BIZ
the same rush Of waters that moved the
drift; the orifce by which they must have
entered. The position Of skeletons of
whales among loose materials, far inland
necessarily implies pervading rush or O.
verRow ofwaters.. Many of the gigantic
quadrupeds appear this was the fact par
ticularly with the to have been mired as
modern cattle are; mastodon, while feeding
in the swamps and morasses.
! The idea formerly entertained that the
old continents were sunk and the bottom
OF the ocean raised, at the time of the del
uge, is disproved by many considerations.
/ No allusion is made in the narrative
to such a catastrophe, and, had it happen
ed, there would have been no propriety
in giving the height Of the mountains as
a measure Of the height Of the waters, or
the appearance of the tops of the noun
tains as standard of the decline of the
waters neither reference would have had
any meaning had the mountains been in
the bottom of the sea, nor could the dove
have ''plucked off, an olive leaf from the
submerged groves nor could the human
family have resorted Immediately to agri-
culture and horticulture upon surface COW
cred with ocean mud and sand and marine
deposits which it would have required
many years to decompose into . fertile soil.
Human remains viii be found fossil,
whenever the sea shall give up its dead
they viii be found imbedded along with
the bones Of animals, with coins, cannon
and shot, anchors, and utensils, and what
ever else may have been swallowed up BY
the sea, and which has resisted the cor
rosions of its waters. The object of the
dcluge was punitive and destructive, and
this it accomplished but there is no evi-
dence that it produced any change in the
crust Of the earth.
The object in view in the production Of
the regular formation of the earth was
quite different; it was evidently to pre-
pare such a world as would be fit resi-
dcnce for the human race, and the means
employed we're the great powers inherent
in the earth as the agents Of the AlInigh-
ty, who works by means.
The primary dominion of fire produced
the granite, the syenite, porphyry, the
trap, and basalt, which form the basis Of
the planet, and afford some Of the most
important materials for architecture and
engineering. The materials derived from
these rocks, and others of similar origin,
formed by their divided parts, the basis Of
the metamorphic rocks those early slate
strata which are intermediate between
the igneous and the fossiliferous fOrma-
tions.
The fragmontary rocks are composed Of
ruins, not metamorphosedi into other forms
but retaining the figured picture, produced
by the adhesion Of the fragments either
by simple cohesion or By means of finer
basis, or by infltration. Vast strata
were produced in this way, and appear
now in the form of sandstone, pudding
stone, breccia or conglomerate, as may be
seen in many structures: e. G., the Smith
sonian building, which is red sandstone,
and the pillars of the Houses Of Congress
and the courtroom in the Capitol, which
are pudding-stone. The fossiliferous rocks,
especially the calcareous, afford building
stones of excellent quality, and marble of
exquisite beauty, in which, when polished
the fossils, often filled with white calcare-
ous snar. shines out with great brilliancy