New-York daily tribune., 1856-08-27

OF The California hahn, well in tho oaans o( n,
Great Ba,in. We cannot contemplate the pocuhu ~.
,fi Ia of the pripcips chair AZ axhi )sd 10 Tue n.
without recognizing the resnf OF the action Of tvo 90
uo rg forces. If conceive the p'lncipA lines =,
fexurc 10 be nericiODa, north and south, the fofs,
NAV be referred 10 force OF contraction, seaAs
easi and west hncs ana this may be et-rmed he eg,s
tors, contraction. The ,renos Of the ranges sh)v ss
the action OF force in another olecisn or om socs
to .outh-a polar contraction, TO which the ,udSss
bencs in tie opg chains Of plsuDt'in mty be referred
Thee be- ds are found in The Slsra Neyads eat Of
the Bsy OF San Francisco in ts southern portion where
il curves gaiua " round 10 the south Ses and The
Bernsdir Sierra r.noing a. nearly night aoges 10 tAe
Sierra Nevsds. Parallel de9e ctioss are found in the
Anahracian chain in the Wind River range, aaa
sean they are in the Wahsntcb range OF The
Aztocan chsns. thus all the long cbsiHs ere
bent a. if by compression upon the ends, saoi
the action Ct force exerted g. right angles " The scs
which has produced the prevailing merldio0a 70 din,
IL clearly shown. Il s most probable tbst this frcs
la- acted in north and south lines and may term
the polar force contraction. The overlapping Of Tie
ridges and ranges another evidence OF hisp u con
traction: for we see that it is nothing more 10 srs,.k
in general terms. than the sliding OF portions a the
range upon themselves, at Least the spp-arancs pes
sented If tie same, although there perhaps % ssua
break. We may aso refer the great nor.a'wsss and
pDrth.ea. trends to the interference Of this polar force
or resistance, either producing the same result VIA
the equatorial contraction, the diagonal trendo beng
the reeultsnts of the two forces Though this tram q
thought leads to interesting speculstons concerning
reserved for future commu icaons, my present eD,ec.
is to present some of the leading concdsons whGh nay
be drawn fom the study OF the relations oil our nOln
fairs now that we have the principal chains placed
with spprpxmate correctt on our maps and ~ show
that there il rot region where the great dynamcs u
the esIth are recorded on scale OF greater simplicity
and grandeur than our own land, between rs and ths
Pacific.
Prof NrwRrrRY exhibited to the Section series OF
foss fsL.s Of gEea beauty aud pertec ion Of preser
walton. VIZ ch he said derived from the carbon.
ferrous strata of Ohio-ffom locality which he haJ
discovered nearly 20 years since-and which would
rival in tie variety and beauty of is foess ne famous
fsh-be6s Of Solepbofen Monte Bolca. Toese hshes
were however truly carbon ferrous Occurring near TIE
center of Ohio portion Of the Allegheny Coal held
both geographic ally aod stratgr aphcaliy IL was,
10 be compare with the deposit of sssil fishes
at Buidee House in Scotland 50 fully ilustra'ed by Dr
Hiobert-that in the Ohio deposit were represented
with every genus found In the I'm estones oi burhee
House with s gle excep lou, while IN addition there
were several genera not yet found in Scotland. The
number of speces was greater in the American than
tie s, otch deposits, and all were different Neary au
the species had, however, character comaion 70
thoee OF Burdee House ia the elaborate orna renaton
Of their scales and plates in which they differed from
II o of the foss ishes of the coal series lie seid tue
similarity of s and the identity OF many % the fossii
plants from the coal straits OF Europe ana Amerca
had been uotceo and nov the general similarity OF
the os IL fishes still further indicated the synch1onism
of the coal period the two continents. Dr.
NrwBERRY sad these fish remains were found 10
n thin stratum OF canneI coal lyUS al tee Oass OF u
flick bed of bitumuous coal that there every
10 ascn TO conclude that these fishes had inhabited
lagoon or spece of open water IN the coal producing
marsh "a within mile or two in any direction tho
cannol coal and the sh remains ceased 10 be iound
that in this lagoon the imaler fishes lived in great
nun bers, and, their teeth proved, lived on sege-
tables on those, WHICH were OF the geneIe Pal9o'
nisc1s, AmU1ptervs, MekoleP's, etc, the Ca'a'
cannS which were caIniverous, subss'edi these
in turn Incoming the prey Of the great sa1roid
Ntgal,chth1s aud of the sharks. These facts
he il icr.d from the grea, abundance OF the
coproites Of the larger hshes, compo.ei aino-t en-
tirev of the scales and bones OF the smaller species
wbieh had served them for food. Probably, this Ia
coon communicated with the open ocean, where the
shaIks ard rays, &c, lived-th.t IT wac eVidenuy
!evorte feeoirg ground with them -'b" ey some
means the entrance was sopped-the lagoon dried up,
partially at least--ald the dying IN great nambers
about the time furnished us With 20 many beau
titul, unmutated specimens Of old and ycung--th.t
subsequently, The surface was occupied by growth
of marsh Vegetation, and the bitumnors coal was
formed without o trace of fishes.
This communication was followed by another paper,
belonging TO the foregoing on the mode OF formation OF
cannei Goals. These Goals, rs class compares WITH
ordinary bitun nos coas, charactized ~ greater
Lonoge eneiy Of physical structure and chemical con-
position, having more aminated and slaty ffac.
ture-lmpure conchoida across the plane OF
stratfcaion-o ooItain more earthly and more volatile
matter land of course ess x and tue gasses
which they evolve have higher illuninsting power.
The fossil. which they cobtsn are either aquatic, or
these differences between cannel and common bi,umn-
ous Goals ha been the bect of considerable diversity
OF opinion among geoossts, the peculiar cbe<scteris
tcs Of CAMEL bavug been ascIbed TO peculiar aud
highly resnous vegetation to applied or gener heat,
all OF which theories being less isfactory
this became OF the probleTs TO which his etenon
has been specially directed IN his estg ions OF the
Geological eIomens of the Ohio system Of the Ale
ghapy ceal field His OBJ bservatiOns upon the camel
coal bees OF Ohio the changes they exhibi. in going
from front of out crop to another, their physical
and chemical characters &C., have resnted in giving
him the conviction that the peculiar characters pre-
eented by beds of camel coal Que 10 tar deposition
IN araftr and the comminsing wih aactra,ei and
dtssoced rgctaJe tissue, Nhtch for the most part
p0se M1s and ac0nslderdJc portion Of 0h,al matter.
let. CAMEL coal always exhibits tendency assume
tie toliated structure Of slate aud shela structure
which il must have derived from aqueous deposition.
1t often Is found sLaoing Tito bituminous shaleinio
which It converted sinpy by accesslons
OF earthly matter. Bituminous shale and con
Me- coal may therefore be considered the sane
substance in diil, rent degrees Of purity-tbat 10,
consolidated ligreous mud, deposited from aqueous
Suspension With different admixures Of carbonaceoas
matter; this cdrboBaceous matter in btamlnOus
shal,- in camel coal, exhibiting prep)n iersnce
Of volatile matter over fxeo carbon, and the gas fur
nshed ty II contains larger proportion vi tbs mole
volatile BY do carbon, aud POSSESSES higher umnat-
ing power than that derived from ordinary bitumlnous
coal TIE chemical co Dposition Of camel cos 40 rich
in volatile iDgred itnt- is such as would naturally fol-
low he cscompoeto1 OF XsgetabIe mitier while coo.
after The oss of their vegetable life ID ia fact
Just0n oxidation OF their hydrogen TO
form water of their carbon to form cubone.
acid. Under water these changes 20 on still more
sowly, and larger portion of the vegetable G.sue
becomes bituminzed. In such circumstances bitu.
ninza,ion IS the oIycaon of the carbon and escape
Of carbon c acit-wirh the combination and remOysl
Of q portion of the alkaline phosphates and caroo.
mates, sc which 90 to form the lo.s-tbe union OF
bydr gen with the carbon to form ca bure,ed hydro.
gen ao Cthtf bycrU-ce1 bons-a portion OF which
given and part combine mech anicay or oaemicsly
with tie oxygen, portion of the alkshes and the
eaitty na'.er-to form sn almost indestrucube mass