Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1854-02-24
THE TELEGRAPH.
KENOsHA, FEBRUARY 81, 1854.
Geological Lecture.

The first Lecture In the course by Mr..
Daniels, was delivered at the Methodist
Church, on Wednesday evening.
The lecturer defined Geologyto be the
Natural History of the earth. 1t teaches
the structure of our globe, the materials
of which it is composed, and the physi-
cal laws which govern it. 1t teaches its
history from the monuments ofpast chan
ges which cover its surface, and penetrate
its rocky strata.
The first great fact to be attended to
attended to is that of structure. The
globe has regular form, that of an OBJ
late spheroid, its equatorial being about
twenty-eight miles greater than its polar
diameter. 1t has four great distinct parts
or elements, namely, the Air-the case
Gus envelope surrounding it to the depth
of forty miles or more; the Water, COW
ering three-ffths of its surface the solid
land or crust; a liquid mass, similar to
the lavas of the volcanoes, occupying its
central depths.
Thus the structure Of the globe con-
sists of these four great elements, arran-
ged in regular sphere, and it is not mere
" a mass of materials thrown together
without order, but, in certain sense, is
organised like the animal and the plant.
This structure was illustrated by large
painting, which the Lecturer called the
Anatomy of the Globe.
As the globe has regular structure,
so there are certain regular and constant
forces in operation, around and within it,
which seem to animate it with a kind of
life. These are controlled by law, and
which it possesses. Some of these pro-
cesses were briefly noticed. Evaporation
and the fall of rain and snow, the move
ment of the waters and streams, the winds
and electrical currents, &C., belong to
mighty system Of circulation as regular
and beautiful as that of the blood in the
animal or the sap i'll the plant.
All the solids, every thing but air and
water are termed rocks in Geological Ian
guage. These are divided into two great
classes, the stratified and unstratified.
The first are arranged in layers and form
in great basins. The last are irrcgular
in form and structure, constituting the
foundation rocks Of the earth, but rising
into mountains and forming the back
bone of the Continents. In the stratifed
rocks are found the forms of animals and
plants perfectly preserved. These are
called fossils. Several of these were ex-
hibited converted into stone yet preser-
we'd in wonderful perfection. The Lectu-
rer called them the letters of Natures
Alphabet, which it had written of the
great events of the past. The stratifed
rocks are piled upon each other like a Sc
ries of volumes with these fossil charac-
tiers thickly inscribed upon their pages.
From these stony records may be gathe-
red the past history of our globe in peri
DDS of unknown duration.
The lecture was eloquent and interes-
ting and was listened to with marked at
tention.
The course continues from evening to
evening, and it is to be hoped that this
opportunity to acquire sound and inter
esting knowledge, will not pass unimpro-
we'd.
The report of last nights lecture we
intended to have had in our columns this
morning. but it has been crowded out by
other matter
The subject of to-night's lecture, is the
Geology of Wisconsin.
sEcoND.]
Mr.. DANIELS said he was happy to see
so many present. but would have been
happier to have seen more. He was re-
minded Of an ancient Lecturer. who upon
one occasion met but one person in the
lecture room, yet went on with his lee
turo. Upon being reproached for it, he
said, True, l had but one nearer but he
was Plato" He was sure he might pay
his audience similar compliment by say
ing that what was lacking in numbers
was made up in quality.
After restating the leading feature of
his first lecture as a foundation for his Sc
cond he proceeded by calling attention to
the two gteat forces which are producing
constant changes in the condition of the
earth; the study Of which changes is call
ed Geology. Every thing is undergoing
change. Chemical electrical, and other
agents are constantly either in increasing
or decreasing the earth's surface.
Those agents which are wearing away
the earth's surface and filling up the sea
and making new formations of rocks. of
corals and fossil remains were considered
and he described infinitely the formation
of rain. its action upon the rocks. how it
absorbed the carbonic acid in the air, and
how it carried off its treasures TO the sea
and there deposited them. An interest
ing history of the formation of the delta
at the mouth of the Mississippi, and of
the formations that were now going on in
the Gulf of Mexico, was here given. He
asked them TO imagine the Gulf drained,
that he might exhibit to them the con-
slant formations now being there created.