Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-02-25

70 IA an
.,,,s fcr.rardsd from THE STAR Office.
S,,-rsoyI,x LKcrUREs.-Dr Hunt delivered
-. r. Smithsonian. last evening, the second lee
80 Of his course on Geology. He commenced by
proceeding to discuss the question OF erosion.
-. and furnished the materials Of those now
vis,ing had been in part gradual, such the
action Of rivers. glaciers ana ocean currents, but
In nat also as he conceived, sudden and violent
.nrh as the breaking up Of the barriers of the
door. great parOIysmal waves borne over the land
,yere he thought, necessary 70 explain the origin
=, ,ha Immense accumulation of cong lomorates
snd s,ndstOnrs He supposed that these move
,,.DtS were however no exceptions to the great
principle defined in the first lecture that nature
1T, nv unchanging laws. and that the cataclvnes
,rrose intervals are measured by ages are proba-
hlvas REGULAR and as necessary In their recurrence
Is thu changing seasons. The evidences of ex-
;eusfve erosion were then further discussed; and
IA tafs connection he spoke Of the great rreoular
itirs 81 disocatiOns in the strata of the earth,s
crust which sometimes afford evidence of vertical
move nents Of two or three miles along certain
lines of fracture; the action Of water having how.
afterwards cut down the surface so az to
make these completely disappear.
The lecturer then proceeded to speak of the
chemical composition Of the earth's crust-the
distribution Of the chemical elements in the
rocks the water, and the air He showed that
the composition Of all these had been gradually
changing from age to age, and had then reverted
into the condition Of the primeval earth, which
he showed must have been a completely oxidized
mass of fused matter, surroun ed by very dense
atmosphere of watery vapor, air, and acid gases
whose subsequent precipitation and action upon
the solid Ned crust gave rise to the fOrmaio on of
SILICA or quartz on the one hand, and ocean
charged chiefly with lime and magnesia salts
the other. The slower process of decay of the
f.ldspartic ingredients Of the crust aided by the
Carbon;c acid Of the air, produced soluble BIZ
carbonate Of soda, which. decomposing the lime
salts Of the ocean, formed carbonate of lime while
the nsoluble portions OF the feldspar siicute
OF alumina or clay
,tiS " a ttai IN idoao of tbSy afinn
of quartz, limestone and clay, which alone or i'm
various mixtures make up the great mass of the
sedimentary rocks: The salt of the present
has been formed from the decomposition of the
lin. and magnesia salts of the primeval ocean by
carbonate of soda. The formation of the latter
salt By the absorption of carbonic acid purified
the primeval atmosphere, so that this process
with the production Of limestone, clay and sea
salt are all related, and dependent upon one an
other. The origin Of gypsum: the lecturer then
claimed TO be due to a newly discovered reaction
between solutions of bicarbonate of lime land
sulphate Of magnesia by which sulphate of lime
or gypsum is formed, and afterwards deposited
by evaporation, bicarbonate of magnesia being
the other product, and by its union with carbo,
nate of lime giving rise to the dolomiter or mag
nesian Iimestones which accompany the gypsums.
other vast deposits of magnesian rocks have how
ever, been formed by the action Of bcarbonate Of
sodt upon basins Of sea-water, from which the
lime salts had been previously separated
In the third lecture, to be given on next Mon
day evening, the Geological and Chemical rela-
tons Of life will he given. In our sketch of the
last lecture, by an error of the press the :'sprink
ling of the sediments is spoken of. 1t should
read shrinking of the sediments
RECEPTION OF THE NEW YORK NATIONAL
GrARD on ITS RETURN FROM WASHINGTON The
New York Post, noticing the return Of the Seventh
Regiment TO that city, says:
At II o'clock the expected soldiers arrived and
met d highly hattering reception, not only from
the military, but from the citizens, who assembled
BY thousands to witness the display. CORTLAND
street and Broadway, with the execution Of the
passage guarded by the police Were dense pack
and their tops crowded by men. Flags were hvinp
from all the main buildings, while the windows
were crowded, and small banners, hats and hand
kerchiefs were waved in honor of the occasion
The companies marched across the Park and
We're reviewed by the Mayor, and then up Broad
way. which presented the same animated appear
dnce throughout.
Notwithstanding the severe fatigues which the
Seventh has endured on its return its appearance
was highly crediable. The members had not
enjoyed regular meal since o'clock YESTERDAY
afternoon; butthc Baltimore CITY q uard furnished
them with liberal supply of sand wiches and
rum. Their reception in Baltimore was Of the
most animated description. They marched mile
and half through the streets of that city, at
tended by immense crowds Of citizens The Ia
dies were out In great numbC-s
On thelr return they experienced considerable
aimGuity and delay In crossing the Susquehanna
he boat carried over five cars with their passen-
gers Other cars were furnished for the renal nder
on this side There were fifteen cars in tue train
During the night the lights In the cars went out
ana the soldiers amused themselves by a concert
In each car. The DELAYS Were numerous At one
time there was stoppage of half an hour, during
winch The members of the Guard went ont and
built a bonfire of the fences and induced in
racing and various athletic sports new order
called the ''Sons of Guns" was introduced Its
peculiar exercises consists of whistle bah -
ana slaPping Of hands. and is hereafter to take
Tie place IF cheering.
Before reaching Baltimore the connection was
ofoken- and the two rear cars were left some two
miles behind
Richmond cheer. which consists Of three CLAN
pings OF the hands and ''booth,n MANY not nm
Outstanding this mis:ook it for groans; and hence
letter Of this morning
ihere Is, nevertheless. great dissatisfaction,
'It'uldriF among the rank and file, at the man
her IN which the regiment was received. There
Were no arrangements for their comfort notwth-
Standing John Cochrane's promise of '.princely
quarters 3"
The Guard notwithstanding its misfortunes.
tip.
MERcURY's THEFT FROM THE STAR AGAIN.
Tne Baltimore Sun seeks to excuse - Mercury-s"
puoilcation OF the Stars report Of MIR Bocock's
ordton under heading passing ii off as having
been specially reported for that Journal with the
plea that II was taken from the Star and appended
TO his report in the sun OH ce; not by Mercurv
himself We have respectfully to say to our
sun. W.T. lOr years past We have
complained In kind and concili atory manner of
the frequent thefts Of its local Washington CORES.
pendent from the Stars columns and have inv7
riably SO complained in vain; the impudence and
mendacity of his robbery OF the fruits of our labor
increasing. instead OF diminishing under tbem
Ii was not to he expected, under such circnm-
stances, that we should longer refrain from avail
ing ourselves Of the only poss BILE remedy for
Mercury's conduct towards ns-we had thrown
grass" long enough in all conscience, to satisfy
the most fastidious ere throwing the 80 stone =
In honorable contrast with the publication of our
report Of which we complained, was that of the
Baltimore Exchange, that gave us the credit to
which the Star was duly entitled. We value the
Suns friendship, Is its conductors must realize
from our invariable course towards 1t, and trust
that this occurrence will remind them Of the pro-
priety Of retaining our kind regards by hereafter
compelling their correspondent to do his own
work, TO ere lit the Star when availlng himself
Of the labors Of those EN- ployed upon 1t.
TREATMENT OF THE SEvENrH REGIMENT IN
WAsHINsroN.-Ac correspondent of the New York
Express says that the New York Regiment. on
arriving in Washington, found no shelter and no
refreshments provided for them after nineteen
hours travelling by rail- that they had to remain in
tie street exposed TO the storm until Quartermasel