St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1858-09-02

out Huty icSt uCio" IhC Su'ioSS, do ii
they took it from wood-cutter after
seeing him fell the tree.
The shells of mollusks. or the bones
of animals, are considered to have
once belonged to living existencies,
whether found lying around the stall
of the market-man, or found imbedded
in solid rock, a thousand feet below
the surface. Now, we find multitndes
of shells and bones, wholly or par
tally fossilized, buried beneath the
earth's surface, and we thus infer that
they once belonged to living animals.
myriads of shcll-fsh, Of great variety
in form and size, which pass their Pc
riod of existence, and, dying, leave
their habitation Of shell contribu-
tion to the ocean bed, which, with
sand and other matter, brought in by
the waves, is forming, layer after lay
er, a vast bed Of deposit. Lime in So
luton may pass through to cement
the mass together, which will harden
into rock, and encase these remains Of
our sea inhabitants, as we find the
shells Of mollusks encased in our
limestone rocks. In this way vast
beds of deposit are being formed con-
tinually along our lakes and oceans,
rivers and seas. in some places, while
in others the action of waves and cur
rents, rains and frost, is wearing away
the old beds of rock and soil formed
ages ago, and carrying the material
away to deposit in new layers which
are being formed elsewhere.
Thus, as the rock is formed layer by
layer those fossils which are found
buried the lowest have been deposited
the longest. Now as species and
even genera Of animals die out and
new ones are created from time to
time to fill their places, it follows that
we can determine the relative age of
rock formations by the animal and
vegetable remains found in them,
! Taking the time necessary for forming
"a given thickness of rock under the
most favorable circumstances at the
present day as standard, and then
measuring the thickness of an old
rock formation, an estimate can be
made of the length of time necessary
to have it deposited The age of a
! formation of rock, or soil, is estimated
in this way, and as they are always
found to maintain the same positions
in regard to each other, their fossil re-
mains form guide for determining
their age, and tracing their extent
Some formations present in one sec
ton Of the country may be wanting
in another, but never do we find one
bed Of rock lying above another, wher
it's natural place is below, unless W,
can also find evidence that the strata
some ONE tconvulsiofi 81 ha,dFes.' '' h'
This regularity in the rocks forms
a guide in looking for Coal, Gypsum
and other minerals, found in beds, o
: !, confined to particular rocks or torma
tions. Much money and labor are 0!
ten expended in boring or excavat'n'
for coal for instance, when a llttl
knowledge of the coal formation an
: it's Geological position among tn
rocks would have shown conclusivel
, that no coal could be found in that IL
= cality.
Observations among the coal field
e shows conclusively that coal is vet
etaLle production, and its formatlo
: constitutes an era in the history
s. the globe. We find roots, leaves, an
even large trunks of trees among II
le coal beds. Almost any piece OF cos
when examined under the microscop
a shows the woody structure, and maj
will show it clearly to the naked ey
Now, if we reason in regard to tn
le az we reason in other things, We mu
o. suppose that wood, leaves. roots a.
n bark found here among the coal
once as assuredly belong to trees a
:, plants Of vegetable growth, as G
lie the wood we use for our winters tu
Beds or seams of coal are sometln
SO found 25 or 80 feet in thickness, WI
"a out any slaty seams, and they
-. usually found from 2 to s feet.
!! produce such vast accumulation
us vegetable matter, and deposit II
me such beds, there must have been q
riod when this earth produced a
nto heavier growth of vegetation u
ur- at present, and this period must hi
vas been of long duration.
Inc There are usually several beds
nat seams of coal, inter-stratiiied ="
EN- rock, and in the great coal basin
u, South Wales in Great Britain, IN
nm are twenty three beds, whose nn
thickness is ninety-three feet. II
IN coal received its covering OF rock
Nv ! posit by submergence beneath
:. waters, as seems most probable,
his hcre are Indicated succession of
ally mergencies, which SO more clearl
his show that the coal region must
q III have been low bottom lands, liabl
iost such occurrences. a#
Now what we would infer
such an origin of the coal, we
aid true of coal formation the world
The coal holds certain relation t
tn other rocks, and occupies fixed
fur ton, and is nevec found in any CO
Is in erable quantities in any other col
tate ton. And, if we wish to lind
little we would look for it, in this ITS
cate ural position, and the probabllit'
ch | finding it in any other formation
st to very few. .
ay, ! Our minerals, as Lead, Gold. :
~ in and Copper, instead OF being del
ed in beds like coal, are found III
ctive or lodes. These veins run cont'n
acts, ly through several layers, at a
o ac- giles with the rock strata ; are
curse divided by old seams OF the rocks
lss of obstructed or diverted in such W
i, and show that the rock must have
I'd to formed first, and the mineral
W, as found its way into the rock atterV
d the through the assures and VEINS;
ncc of think that the melted mineral Il
$ sup has been thrown up from the II
as we Of the earth by some volcanic
duced Again others suppose that SO
b, and them, as lead for instance. have
,,hon hold in solution by some chemiC;