New-York daily tribune., 1855-08-21

Prof AG.ssz bsvirg asked II the presence ~ -, |
wss an invariabe Indication The Silurar or 4. a.
words, If il Silmian fossil
Mr.. WHITSEr stated tha. all the gres. dsr.o...
gold occurred in the Slurisn, AMI be thoagh, !, a..
be considered an uniailng Indication of hs -
ton.
Mr. WHITNEY then spoke or Iron Hesasa..
there were scattered over the earth deposits a. =
Of peculiar character and extraordinary purisv -,
that the mode of their occurer was also peers.
they belonged TO certain systems Of rocks sos -,
found only n tlose systems. The principal loesls;
in which this iron occurred were Scsndiravi. yr,s
ern New-YoIk Superior and Misscari. In SssS--
there was single Ted zoo feet in ~idth By four os
miles in length. The deposits IN Northern Nss.yes
were not extensive, but the Cleveland Iron aoas,s
in the Lake Superior country - the hight Il io,s
feet above the lake, With breadth % 900 est -
was entirely composed OF iron ore. Along IL serp.s
were numerous knobs 80 20 100 feet in hight MA
were perfectly pure. There were numerous va. /
mountsins IN Missouri which furnished equally pu~ /
o.es The ores thus found were almost always oft.c
kinds specrar ana magnetic. The specular p7eiouA
mated in Sweden, Superior sad Missouri, whh H.
mseDe'ic prevailed in Northern New York. InSr
peror the iron beds lay between trap and ia'cose ss
in Missouri pophyry was neari n NeF-YOh 4
seemed to have been sodimentar1ly DEPOSITED nkr.
ticrlar masses and aiterwar1 subjected 20 mesnnr
phic action: these al in azOic rocss As :hs 49,,
reriods were more violent In their action han IAs,
periods il was probable that what vas hrogn v,
during those periods came from deeper pogoa y
the earth and &C might hence infer that there w,fp
great deposits Of pure iron deep down in he earth
Mr.. HALL would say, in answer 10 the questi1 o.
Professor Agassiz, that all the rocks below tho pels
azoic which occurred in any considerable qusss.s.
n this country, were metamorphc from sedimeat1,
rocks. Not only the great systems Of these rocks bEs
even subordinate portions OF them had been depoxiiea
under somewhat different circumstances physically
and chemically Although some shells and sand-stsnes
in different formations might have considerable snii
larity sil they presented differences, and these sgbt
differences were brought in mctamorphism. lie va
satisfied that when our meamorphic rocks came 70 B.
more thoroughly known, every group that had hadty
considerable Characteristic IN lts original formsfor
would in it, metamorIhc state be found TO pr~r,
such peculiar minerals as TO cbaracefze i as perfectly
a. the fossiferOus rocks are characterized by Aer
fossils.
In the section OF Physics the Rev. GEo. JoN,.
L. :. n, read paper on the Zodacal Light
Only some vague notices OF the Zodacal Light oc,Cf
in ancient authors before il is distinctly and briefly
mentioned by Chuldrey in l6Cl i was inst carefully
observed by Cassni an Italian by birth. NJ the %
servGtory Of PHis. He thought an cmanation OF the
suI His associate Iacio thought II ring around The
sup Miriam in 1871 thought Il IN atm l-pht co nnccs
with the sun. In all subsequent spe,uiations neg
observations after Cassin's were used I'LL 1892. In
ls4i Blot observed that the nodes of the IodiSd
Light did coincide with those OF the earth and sag-
gestod that il might be more Oel than had been SUP
posed. He found that il gave much more heat thsa
the tail Of a comet did. No Obseryations had ben
made treyOus 70 those of Mr. Jones except in nOnA
,rn laiitudes These were made AT soe on voysg
to China. The Il. l.. appears best when It Is on ths
ecpiic. When az the Summer solstice and on tie
ropic of Capricorn the Io0iacal Light was yisibk
hom IL 10 in both horizons al once With their apnss
approaching each other. In the center OF the L.
is q condensed port with boundary OF us own. On
~ I--N ha frafN tawf
tie pulsaiiobs variations OF intensity in the space
a minute or two that il exhibits on some occasions
He found also humortTOdaca Light, and on tw0oces-
sOns that seemed TO coincide with that OF the sun.
He made 33l sets OF observations. He found that II
by the revolution of the eanh no receded from the
eciptic the Zodiacal Light moved tue in the sam
direction, and vice versa.
We give the remainder in his own wOrCis:
shall deal now before you, gentlemen, very bnehy N
theories for is my purpose TO give facts, not hypCth
eses; yet in my very long night-watches the mind
would work, though repessed from thconZins o.
much as possible; the more ! have subsequently
thought on the subject the clearer seems to be the con-
clusion that the facts have gathered can BIO met oay
by supposition, that ~ a "e1uf0ns r''g around
the earth.
l. This light cannot be from any body involving u
in its matter else could not get boundaTles toh
any more than could to mss OF log or coluus
of smoke in which were involved We must b.
ieitlOut il in oroer TO get bounds.
g II cannot be from planetary nebulous body re-
yolying around The SUM- but must be from nobuons
ring; for il IL 10 be- every morning and EVENING"
the year when the moon or clouds do not interfere
which could not b. the were IL anything else :hsn
an u1broken ring.
3 ia ring with the sun for its center Il cannot b.
within the orbit of globe, for then II could not
have been seen simultaneously over the eastern and
western horizon az midnight, the spectators h0r1ea
then extending far above on either tide; nor conld
its vorex ever he in the spestaors zenith or indeed
sny great distance above his horizon, which Is con
trary TO facts.
A. is Il solar ring extending beyond The EARN
On this subject must refer 10 the data afforded by
these observations for is Only from facts that ve
are able 10 argue in the case. Any one examining
these data will see, think, that the lateral chafe's
from hour 20 bOur in the boundaries OF both Str srd
Diff It. especially toward the horizon, could ro'
have taken place in a ring % ds,ut a solar hng
would have been at the point where reached BY tt.
horizon There IA also in alm0s, all these ls'eN
changes a striking coincidence between the chsscx
end extent of the change and Tie change OF place
the spectator with regard TO the eclipuc. va %
tbe southern side Of the echytic though my len pet
might be north the lateral changes were IN the sonfc
ern .ide Of the Zodiscel Light III was on the norm o.
the ecptc tEese lateral changes were on me nottn-
en side OF the Zodioca Light IT, in he course OF iow
or FIVE hours the earihs rotation caried me RON ue
southern TO the northern sde Of the eclptf or the op
posi,e the Zodaca Light changed With me- is Is's''
boundsries shaping themselves according 70 my chsate
Of place. 1hle was Dot always The case out VN ~.
general iecf. when "as iar n so1ileI "a -.
greater nass OF the ZOiiscs Light, instead Oh DehE
on the north eide Of the eciptc, "a here hal snee
over to the south; and We came from ko 20
NcW-York as rapidly ar steam could cary w. ns
msss Of light come with TO the north once mort
still however u its varying positions bcFiDg
roference 20 NV position with re- lard the echPtc
/ ak, supposiDy that the Zodiacal Light HVm
a solar ring. which would maze the base o. ~ y
ch, IT its first and last sppeararee nsary or dnns
l-O, 1000 miles Oh, would that light a. ~ e.r
4 rlu~
hour or an hour when the spectators place % '0e
earth las been - slightly changed7 haze iskes |.
lev OF my observations, AMI have snbnnttsd ihsn y. y
calculation not making much Of selecton fos eS'gs