New-York daily tribune., 1859-02-12
GUYOT ON PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Prof A. GUYor, the coadutcr of NJ. Agassz in his
great work among the gls1iers of Switzerland, CON-
mepced last evening, in the rooms of the Rhetorical
Society. series of lectures or Comparative Physical
Geography"-a portion Of the post graduate course
Of Columbia College. Prof Guyot commenced his
Introductory lecture by saying tina. must not study
nature in isolated facs; we must combine them, sec
their harmonies and behold the whole carrying out
the intent Of Gcd. 1t was all one grand organism
The watch was one kind Of organism the plant
another the mineral another, man another; and should
we not suppose that the great whole, including msn
was also an organism He knew OF no better way
10 prove this thar to look al nature, and see what
changes she had gone through and we should find that
the globe partook also Of the arrangement which we
saw 10 every thing else Geology taught us that the
earth bad a history; that it had been developed
through life analogous to that Of the living snmal
The three elements of which all was formed were
matter physical life and la the history OF our
earth we found three grand periods-one in winch
the organic matter reigned supreme; aud, siuce then,
one in which there no human life; aud the one in
which we lived The same process was Observable IN
the growth of the anmsl from the egg; first the ap'
parently homogeneous mass oi the egg then the SCI
aration into organic massss; and then he sppeared
uniting these into one animal So, TOO, the law Of
ueyelOpn eDt OF t1e lnulNluuht Cpuu po i W.
DEVELOPMENT of stop; it was the everywhere.
At creation the world was homogeneous mas' OF
gases these gradually by chemical action were indi-
yiduszed into spheres and the again separated into
solid nuclei, with liquid and gaseous envelopes.
After our globe bad cooled down, that the water
became LIQUID. rocks were deposited at the bot
tom OF the ocear-in Epglard 5000 feet thick
before lite began. These rocks were only the
stepnipg-stores to life In the courss Of the
subsequent changes, the great thing to be re-
marked was the relations OF lant ani water.
There were three grard epcchs in the history OF the
formation Of the Continents; hrs the oceaoie age;
the second comprised the secondary ard the third the
tertiary rocks la the first age only brosd sEeep OF
land extending from the Great Lakes TO the north
esst and 10 the north-west was not submerged. 10
the Sc ond period the whole continent, from the Ale
charles north rose above the water, and laod ex'
tended westward TO the borders OF tae States. The
tertiary age completed the continent, with the exception
Of narrow stip along the Atsotic COST the Gulf,
ara the Pac fc from Mt ST. Elias to the Gull o sltor-
MIA. which had since been added. lIe'e We saw
that the lowest mountains first formed. l. was so
in Europe we bad in the first period the hills OF Brit
tany and the mountains of England AID WAes; IN
the second the Jura, Psrerees and InunDSian Moun-
t.ns arose and in the third, the Csrpsrthans and the
Alp. But here se saw the difference between Europe
and America; in Europe there was great variety; IN
I Auorca grea. simplicity. Animals were divided into
NeTtebraes aud Invertebrates; tie latter sgan into
| Artioulates Mousks and Radistes. The Ridiatss
rep,escnted homogeneous fe the Mollusss, digestive
! powsr and the Arcustes motorial life. The true
type Of tbs animal would contain all these, with new
physiological element above and governing the whole.
The three lower types chsscteistic OF the Sl-
rsn period which Only preface to tbs real aui'
nal life. In tie Devopiau fishes appeared, and the
earbonerous was marked 10y its fauna. The secondary
period was the sge Of Reptiles the tertiary the age OF
Mammals The globe had come now to Its aiut safe,
and was prepared for the development OF s2utasl h'e
Did not thi. long series TO show that tue ps't
was but preparation for the present, and tns' tne
present was something than continuation OF ths
past The great law of development whi'h hsd pre-
vailed during the past ages psIVsded the Preseo' Au'
made of ii grand organism. Wss there no ress'n
why Asia should lie the cradle Of the sces and the re-
bgioDsl VAS an accident tha. Europe shoud IN Us
insular and peniusular forms brig local development
/ TO its hight Was /. by chance that North Am:rcs
presented physca obstacle TO the formation OF one
/ grand community, that the vegeta,ivs element pre-
! vailed in South America, and the animal element in
Africa Could say that there wa, great plan in
all this He believed that there was, aud that the
alton Of that psn wss to be foaud in the per-
con of the spiritual life by the adlmsn Of tse great