New-York daily tribune., 1856-08-29
:, voos jJs b, side with mere in'rutafious OF

on both siOef OF t,e OOio1too 90" "oh -.
shonnd in such NJ bbfy Aed In our d.ys, asna
al the sn ing sand AZ then did the currente o' .ue
ocean and local alterations only occur a. tuo sou.
driven from plsee to place. The generA ~ %
country IL proof Of uPheavai snso u. pa,;on of
o;lpv.l drif The relative and abe"lote elesa,oh oi
this din vial formation IL approaches tue oieu1i
M ,dre ia striking furnishing, % u does hx,ui
b,idoe almo,t over the who ~. o tue i.o'hy ''o
ts'ns otherwise iDsccessoe e. lle SeN snlsse " r..
:; o,,,. rhannccd by lts inevitable barrenDess. ihese
y.,t uars lie like geological Tsnts ss, having "ste'
a, ia base and treasured in the Clouds ABOVE ye, re
Die TO r, ceive and appropriate It, lhe h9oos .. E ~.
short rainy senon are instantly s"aIo"eo VI " .Ls
ho.toml. ss sauds To Z. ach the strata upon "nNu o
ohluyial deposits he we must 60 very deep q o.ee'
for constituents of the secondary era seem 10 90 o
tIrefy wanting. These strata conss' oi ciJ JA.n .nS
rncks metamorphic and una tered, OF the pfhNy snu
tr.nsition, ages, and forming the rocky Hauie "
,keletop of Ii country. They may be regarded 10
form as Pluto volcanic. The parsFelism amohg .nS
yaIious mountain ranges forming thi' skeeton ana
their correst OF dence IN dD ection with the "ee,el
coast are facts better kno~ -, 1Hh ~ .nprised At the
cose relationship the 70 ks CT al the different Sie
suce they mutt have arisen from our fuD-ro w. ,on
focus ar assumed their forms subme geo ID quo go
ers medium. The rest OF this long psp% %" 20 ~.
ped by q particular ara minute oe''f
In conclusion. this review Of the geological charac.
ter OF North Wet Sonora slows 'uet su.1 =: - L; ~
Tho country s not consistent with the idea OF naVns
scbeJ II. bioLest Nit Of photographer cnimna
10y 49, 40 nn6ted for the benefceRt operations OF
creation Looking again over the noun.ois ". ".S -,
have come under review, we ma tne,. a.. i
ya,iablv dipppg east end north EAST ana the 81, nc H
f.n;n, ywesi or south-west We therefore cons.uel
each range Sieira or Cordilera as the ecge oi eA
in the erest hook of Geogony, iew Vl .ne.. ar
b. ep opened so that we can read then, ou1 nI' r. a. -
r.nsin closed with their edges little upurned. II s
onr ;mor. ssion when the time for new pntse suau
come these mysterious sheets will be turned iV the
wet 10 east We do lot, however, believe ina. any
ore az and violent general catastrophe WI oe neeS
ss,T 10 cause the changes We expect. A long con-
t;nued anc perhaps mperceptiole increase OF ee'ae
III n and esoecialy the enlargement OF the angie oi
inclination OF The de.ers, might be sufficient 10 ena
be the winds and waters TO relieve toat csunty VI uo
terrible burden of debris now resting upon IL
TUEsDAY-AFTERNooN SESSION.
SECTION OF GEOLOGY.
NJ C. U,xLtS exhibited some fossil cetaceous
bones found IN Maine. ..
Prof. JOSEPH LEcosTE read very interesting
nsner upon the "Agercy of the Gulf Stream IN tke
Formation Of the Peninsula and Keys OF Florida.
In lsl be spent the months of January aud feoru NY
with Aeassiz in the examination OF the reefs anc keys
Florida and be ame intel este IN the subject Sch mas
oec Spied him irom time TO tine, untu ne q. ienS
the results of hs studies before the public nth tne
.xnlo, atoms of Agassz and Tuomy, the geology oi
Fl,IiC had not been known, being supposeo 70 con-
sist of a prolops at of that OF Georgia ana aa-
bama; but these gentlemen made kno Sn the femAh-
able iat that the keys and most OF the Peninsua are
O, recent origin and far as they examueu, are 'ne
work of coar still living in the vicinity and still ct
wolk The object of the present paper was 10 snow
that coral agei cy alone was not surhcieIt W a "
for the phs bomepa but that another and more power
full ageIt has been al wok preparing the ounaatloh
for the builders, and that this ageLt was tne ou,i
Stream. A section was dawn upon the blackboard,
dividing the lower part OF Florida into three sections
The more norherly bounded by Q line from Tampa
Bay north. east. ry 10 the Ausnic; second from
CharlOtes IIaibOr parallel TO this, ana thId, also
parallel, from Chatham Bay.
n at
These ints are also parJl. to the hne OF coast ..
the extremity of the peninsula. Parallel also is the
line of isaLds tie keys separated from the shore oy
ship char nell and st further outside the iine OF Nv
ibg coral reet, just on the eoge OF the Con ouea
The living reef is five to ten miles from the keys,
aud the keys some forty mdes IRON the coast, tae
water be,e being very shoal ard dotted over WIN
small ma, grove ISLANDS. The shore soe WE'VE or
ttirteen feet above the sea- but inland the go caeo
Everglades snk, and are bu, lew ieet ao9se 49,,
varied by fresh ponos and hammocks. Outside the
living reef the bottom slopes rapidy 70 almost un'
fathomable depths. This description beng kept IN
mipo the theory to be presented VIII be GEAR ihat
the Southern coast the keys and the Everglades are
the voik Of coral agency, there is no doubt But as
coras cal not grow above the surface THE water their
agency alone is Iot sufcient-the violent actioh OF
the nos snd waves is necessary to break on masses
OF the cors and be them within the line OF the reel
Heie these coral powders become the nuc1e around
which smaller pieces of coral SAND ana other suo
stances coli. become menttd by the carbo' ate OF
lime in the sea water ard go at length the whole oe
may be going on at the keys ana reefs
Of Eloca. There lis the solitary bowder, that aneacy
the C., nter of mass Of coral DEBRIS and 70 on up 10
the il hbted rlaLd Tne coral send in these ISLANDS
is found al psys affected by that kind Of stratication
caus. d by the If violent waves. The idea OF
Prof TuoDy that the masses Of coral exposed above
the sands soils some OF the islands, are t1e
tOls of trees eeva ed bv gneOus agency
is ouud TO be an error when excsvationI made,
as th. y ire then revealed to be out bowlders Inc
col uson from this reasoning follows inevitably that
tie line of keys i former coral reef changed by the
action OF th- above der crlbed. In thus IN an
ntr, as Tuomy pointed out ano Agssiz has proved,
vas the present Southern coast formed Here also
Tuomy supposed be evidence Of upheaval, while
Agasslz raw nothing but the effect OF the waves.
1be he OF the shore was once reef,
then btcsme keys, finally continuous coast line be-
hind which the sR al water IpIdiy flied up, aud the
Evnglaces wele formed. OF cOur-e, during the reef
pefiOo, the elevated lire from Chatham Bay was the
coast. The coast bio must have been begun as q
coral reef, woch went through the same change, M
time when the lLe iron Tamps Bay was still the limit
Of the peLin us. IL is cesr that all this portion of
souihein FLORIDA was superfci0Uy formed by coral
agency; and can hardly doub. that this is equally
true OF the country much further to the north ward
specimens of precisely the coral have been col
tcted IS far moth as St. Augustine This Opinion, Mr.
LecoIte fortified by various other facts and arguments
Thus far We have Prof Agasrizs views upon the mode
OF formation OF this region That the coral agency,
However, was not alone sufficient, the speaker nos
proce to show
FHst: 1t is q well known fact that the reefbuildng
coa Ut those s.as cannot grow at greater depth than
Sky TO seventy feet; nor can they grow above the
surface OF the water at low tidebeiIg thus confined
vertically to limits Of ten or twelve fathoms Unless
there be subsdence of the bottom, therefore, We
can have no reef Of greater extent than this In
Of coral .!ands we may add ten fifteen feet for
tenaIs thloWn up by the waves, which, where there s
no subsidence limits the extremes to ZONE eighty feet
Second II is certain that no subsistence Of the
bottom has here taken place as that would preclude
all possibility Of the ncres Of the peonsula by coral
seeIcy. IL follows then that the coral formation Of
Fon0a can be nowhere beyond eighty feet in thick
ness. Now if coral agency alone to be admitted it
oows ibat the ocean for the enormous distance from
ST. Augustine to the present reef, was nowhere above
sixty Or evenly feet 10 depth and Flords or Si