Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1857-02-07

The following notice Of Prof. Emmons' Report is
from the pen Of Prof. Dewey, Of the University Of
Rochester, New York. Such notice from such .
quarter, is indeed high commentator, and must
be gratifying not only to Prof. Emmons, but to all
who take interest in his valuable labors in North.
Carolina:
GEOLOGICAL REPORT
Or the Nidlond Counties Of North Carolina, by Z.
EaMoNs. Pages $50, CO., 1856.
AT the late annual meeting of the American
Scientific Association" in this City, some very curl
Gus and unexpected fossils from North. Carolina were
presented and discussed by Dr. +. Emmons. They
were curious, as exhibiting new forms Of ancient
life, and unexpected, such fossils had before
been discovered in any rocks in our country The
discovery Of these fossils BY DIR. T., the Geogist of
that State, was announced by Prof Agassiz as the
greatest made in our country of late. They are par
ticu'ar!y described in the above named report. OF
course the rocks, in their arrangements and connec
TONS in which these wondrous models of creation
are treasured up by its great author to instruct man
IN the knowledge Of organic being. existing in ages
long passed, are fully presented To give even an
outline of so large a volume would transcend
sonab'e limits. few points only can be glanced at
In the preface DR., Enmons pays a Just tribute to
Professors Omsted and Mitchell, who had preceded
him many years, and thrown no little light on the
Geology Of North. Carolina. Indeed the survey of
North. Carolina, by Prof Olmstcd was the result Of
the first legislative act. by any State Of the Union,
and the report was published in lS24-5.
Though the rocks remain the same, so great has
been the progress of geological Investigations, that
the fields OF discovery before the eyes of the present
gcologlst are ample he could ask or desire. In
aeed rich mine of discovery has already been
opened by him. The State will have reason for con-
graduation on this second survey of its ample re.
sources and rich treasures of developed mineral
wealth.
In this geological survey, DR.. Emmons has divid-
cd the State into three belts parallels lying north
and south The Eastern. which borders on the sea.
shore, and is the low country the Western. or the
mountainous parts of the State which has the sources
Of its rivers; and the Midland, which extends west
wardly to the outlines Of the Blue Ridge and is lilly
caswordly even TO the falls Of the rivers at the vest
ern limit OF the low country. 1t is curious how
geology divides a country into distinct natural por.
tons, where The rocks, minerals and soils differ
cn and require very different pursuits. Whoever
has read the geology Of England on ITS map must
have had one delightful surprise as the light of this
truth first flashed upon his mind.
The Midland belt is about one hundred and eighty
miles wide, and its slope towards the sea is about
ten feet to the mile.
After n chapter the rivers their capacity to
move machinery, and the possibility and probable
advantage Of manufacturing csablishmcnts-mattcr
ON the igncous rocks; next on the sedncntnry
rocks, their formation and their arrangement by
their fossils into three divisions palTozoc, mcsozoc,
and cainosoic not new indeed but its names vastly
preferable to pamosoc, secondary, and tertiary,
though so often found in geological works.
The use of fossils in classification depends, says
Dr. f., on three principles |. That species or kinds
have had limited duration; 9. That there has been
a succession of species and 3. That the species of
Dp al bny vi hay
never lived in any future perod.-p. "a. An exam
inntion Of fossils has led to these three CONCLUSIONS
or laws on their living and disappearance, so that
creation and destruction require new creation, and
thus on IN succession, through the series Of rocks.
Then, see, that fossils will show to the rocks
to which they belong, and beyond which they do
not exist
The Taconic system, corresponding to the Cam
brian of Scdgwick in England, DR.. Emnons shows
to exist in great amount in this Midland region for
this position COMFORTS with that system at the north.
Indeed the rocks arc readily traced from Canada
through the States into and beyond North-Caroina.
PIP. II, "A. In the lower division Of the Taconic
system DIR. Il. has discovered quartz rock abound.
ing in fossils, and considered to be much older than
those Of the POtsdam sandstone. Many specimens
Of two species were examined by the Scientific As.
ISOLATION. They Of the corallinc tribe, and named
by DR.. f. as a new genus" Palnoirochis, or old
messenger" from its position the bottom of the
fossililcrous rocks. The name is fine, and ms the
species differ much in size, one is called p. major,
and the other p. minor, (pagcs GO and G3) with
much proprieiy. The profuse locality of this fossil
is at Troy, Montgomery county, n. G., and the
quartz rock is there below the common clay slate,
as it is in Berkshire county, Mass.
The gold mines and veins of silver, &c, and coal
measures, SO fully presented in this report, sub
jccts Of great importance to the State and Of high
interest to the geoogist This il specially true Of
the coal measures, Opp. $50 to 27s) particularly in
the location in the Permian system. But the work
must be consulted for the facts aud reasonings Five
plates of splendid vegetable fossils from the coal
measures illustrate the report besides those of fishes
and reptiles.
This coal field, extending from Virginia through
North Carolina into South Carolina has long attract
ed attention. and the interest will be greatly incrcas
ed to the geological world by this report Whether
all the conclusions Of the learned gcoogist of North
Carolina will be sustained or not, (who can hope
they will notD one cannot but congratulate him that
he is able to explore field of orgrnc remains pos
sessing this and excessive interest G. ID.