The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1860-11-24
For the Free Trader.

Geology,
. Why is it that living as We do in a lauc
. where institutions OF learning abound
where the arts and sciences are cultivated
and where every one possesses the means
and opportunity of acquiring knowledge
OF ali useful things, this noble science o
Geology is neglected by the great mass O
the people? A science, too, whose facts
present IL thrilling interest; whose results
ars as great ss those of astronomy, whicn
Is closely allied to chemistry, botany, zoo!
ogy, and in fact TO every branch OF natural
history, ought to be as much sought after
and understood as any other branch OF
| study. Aside from the satisfaction, how
great pleasure must it give the explorer
! TO classify and anaiyze the different rocks,
/ (5y the term rocks mean also the soils,
! CLAWS, grayels, for this is their geological
/ detnition,) to show their origin, determine
their relative aye and point out the organ
/ lc remains, If any, contained therein
Among all places which abouad in geOlo-
! gical wonders, La Sale county certainly
/ occupies high position. This i especial
| ~ true OF that portion OF il watered 10y the
Big Ferrlillon. ] have spent days on lis
banks and rocks, both proiitabIy aud dc
iIShtfuliy. and have never yet returned
home without making some new disco
very, TO me, at LEAST, or adding something
TO my collection OF specimens. 1 explore,
chiefly, In the iossili'-rous rocks, which lie
Immediately below aiiurium or drift We
! iind that all organic remains are chiefly OF
marine origin, few only icing fresh wa
ter relics. OF these the species called
crin,fss. are the most numerous. These
animals are found by geologi-t- to have
consisted of vast number 0. little bones
or joint which formed a column contain
ing the vi~cera, and supporting cup
shaped head, from whose margin proceed
ed i've arms, dividing into tentaculated
finser-, which they are supposed 70 have
USE! for securing their prey. The CO.
lumne were flexible and the animals were
fixed 10 the bottom Of the eca, or 10 a
piece OF wood, therefore they could only
move y, far a. the irxure OF their bo.i!e,
would allow. Tn. number Of little bones
forming the head alone are e-t.mateI al
2I,ytp. They are 50 numerous IN some
rock. - 10 give them the name OF e7.~yta~
HtJr,s / have one spe .inen- loot
square, composed entirely Of them, p-tri-
fed aui csmeut.i together by lin. and
clay. Gniv two living species have been
discovered in the ocean
CuASaEEED SHEiLs-Iue,e ar. un.vaiye
and divided by cross partitions into naaIs-
roI- chambers. where the animal lived
Although they were very NUMEROUS and
widely spread IN ancient ,iU--. they have
nearly all disappeared. ta- species, t.4e
la.a.a..'~ are found cJrlri uV u tL. shape
al a whee!. and are sometime move tl.u
four feet III diameter IHey have been
taken from Homer stone quarry, la sale
county. one foot and a Ao!! across. have
three. one or winch = - lnv:.c- n dame
Tar ht. = ,4F
genera OF til. uautIlu, OF sheii-iI-h Ano-
ther j. the orf..-~ra- a straight she'll. III
Viiei ike ,ne .mmOul;s into chamber, o!
which - have sometimes been cCU.tol-
1t la, been found - Ea-t aud Il hall iOaC,
aud ei.ht Inches ia diameter ! have -
veral, one six inches through aai foot
long. Their enormous -!z- denote. the
existence ot = very warm c-.iGti= wien
they were alive IN northern "a. Forty
clztt -pecie. have been discovered: of
these. the ts-o nave described are the
l4r.-st OF The sh.!I-ii,h Tube But there
are many other smaller ones, - the teTe-
br,tulI. spr!!er prodUct-- &c, which may
i- found IN Immense quantities ia the ter
tlary .Inest0aes along the two EaTm,l.On
rivers.
Petgiiied ferns and plants sometimes O.
cur. III. out a. one time Z piece Of the
SIX inches through. which was buried IN
the NerIn..ion biuii 80 .ecI iIOin the sur
lace Of the ground The LIVING species are
now extinct IN this par: % TIE country.
but tlsy grow in the Go-rii Zync - the
height oI bj or 20 i-e;
nave sometime, found the remains OF
rl-Ht, a1i leaves but probably most perish
ia lie process Of pe;r.iaction Anything
that viii act a. a m!neraizer Will III time
change animal or vegetable matter into
mineral substance As the tU-sIii!erous
strata aTe many thousands Of fee: in
thickness vast cycles Of time must have
elapsed since the deposition and Petr!tac-
ton 81 their organic remains.
Hitchcock says that frequently layer, OF
rocks many thousands OF feet In thick
nes, appear to be made up almost e.tirely
OF the remain, Of animals or plants, and
that organic remains are found IN the Alps
1900 or 5000 feet above the level OF the
sea. and ia the II lmaldyAs al the he ght OF
1000 feet Therefore the earth must
have existed in some form brother capable
Of supporting animal and vegetable life,
long before the time assigned 10y the Mo
sale account 1t would be absurd TO as
sert that the Almighty created these fos-
sihierous rocks Just a. they are, filed with
perfectly petritied remains, in a moment
Of time, simply by the exercise of His ON
uipotent will Such all event i possible
but not probable If We admit that or
canic remains from the retrited elephant
and rhinoCeros Of Siberia down 10 animals
OF lower species are not petrlidctons, We
drop all auaiogical reasoning. aud the
whole Of physical science falls TO the
ground But il would be useless to reply
to an objection which would never be
raised by any one. ". ". c.